United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
E34411
The United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. is a historic scientific and military facility known for its astronomical research, precise timekeeping, and role as the official residence of the U.S. vice president.
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| United States Naval Observatory | 19 |
| U.S. Naval Observatory | 3 |
| United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C. canonical | 2 |
| Naval Observatory | 1 |
| USNO Time Service Department | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T266864 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C. Context triple: [VPOTUS, officialResidenceLocation, United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.]
-
A.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a major research institution dedicated to the study of astronomy and astrophysics, known for its work in observational astronomy, space science, and collaboration with the Harvard College Observatory.
-
B.
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is a historic astronomical observatory in Wisconsin renowned for housing one of the world’s largest refracting telescopes and for its influential role in 20th-century astrophysical research.
-
C.
Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory is a major astronomical observatory in Chile renowned for its high-quality observing conditions and its role in cutting-edge optical and infrared astronomy.
-
D.
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a major astronomical observatory complex in northern Chile that hosts multiple world-class telescopes used for cutting-edge research on the universe.
-
E.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a leading NASA research and development center specializing in robotic space exploration, planetary science missions, and deep-space communications.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C. Target entity description: The United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. is a historic scientific and military facility known for its astronomical research, precise timekeeping, and role as the official residence of the U.S. vice president.
-
A.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a major research institution dedicated to the study of astronomy and astrophysics, known for its work in observational astronomy, space science, and collaboration with the Harvard College Observatory.
-
B.
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is a historic astronomical observatory in Wisconsin renowned for housing one of the world’s largest refracting telescopes and for its influential role in 20th-century astrophysical research.
-
C.
Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory is a major astronomical observatory in Chile renowned for its high-quality observing conditions and its role in cutting-edge optical and infrared astronomy.
-
D.
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a major astronomical observatory complex in northern Chile that hosts multiple world-class telescopes used for cutting-edge research on the universe.
-
E.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a leading NASA research and development center specializing in robotic space exploration, planetary science missions, and deep-space communications.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (60)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Navy facility
ⓘ
astronomical observatory ⓘ scientific research institution ⓘ |
| affiliation | United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station ⓘ |
| architecturalStyle | 19th-century institutional architecture ⓘ |
| contributesTo |
Coordinated Universal Time
ⓘ
International Celestial Reference Frame ⓘ |
| coordinates | approximately 38.921°N 77.066°W ⓘ |
| country | United States of America ⓘ |
| employs |
astronomers
ⓘ
civilian staff ⓘ engineers ⓘ military personnel ⓘ physicists ⓘ |
| hasFunction |
astronomical research
ⓘ
ephemeris production ⓘ geodesy ⓘ navigation support ⓘ reference frame determination ⓘ standard time dissemination ⓘ support of civilian positioning and timing systems ⓘ support of military operations ⓘ timekeeping ⓘ |
| hasPart |
Number One Observatory Circle
ⓘ
Vice President’s Residence ⓘ
linked to:
Vice President's Residence
administrative offices ⓘ main observatory building ⓘ telescope domes ⓘ time service facilities ⓘ |
| headquartersLocation | Washington, D.C. ⓘ |
| heritageStatus | historic site ⓘ |
| inception | 1830 ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | District of Columbia ⓘ |
| knownFor |
astronomical observations
ⓘ
maintaining U.S. official time scale ⓘ precise timekeeping ⓘ production of astronomical almanacs ⓘ supporting GPS timing ⓘ |
| locatedIn |
Northwest Washington, D.C.
ⓘ
Washington, D.C. ⓘ |
| locatedOn | Massachusetts Avenue NW ⓘ |
| mainBuildingMaterial | brick ⓘ |
| near | Embassy Row, Washington, D.C. ⓘ |
| operatedBy | United States Navy ⓘ |
| originalName | Depot of Charts and Instruments ⓘ |
| ownedBy | United States Navy ⓘ |
| partOf |
U.S. Department of Defense
ⓘ
linked to:
Department of Defense
United States government ⓘ |
| produces |
U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock
ⓘ
astronomical almanacs ⓘ ephemerides for celestial bodies ⓘ star catalogs ⓘ |
| renamedAs | United States Naval Observatory ⓘ |
| significantEvent | relocation to current Washington, D.C. site in the late 19th century ⓘ |
| streetAddress | 3450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. ⓘ |
| usedAs | official residence of the Vice President of the United States ⓘ |
| uses |
Very Long Baseline Interferometry
ⓘ
atomic clocks ⓘ optical telescopes ⓘ radio telescopes ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C. Description of subject: The United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. is a historic scientific and military facility known for its astronomical research, precise timekeeping, and role as the official residence of the U.S. vice president.
Referenced by (26)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
subject linked to:
VP
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
subject linked to:
United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
subject linked to:
Newcomb
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
Newcomb tables of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars
→
developedBy
→
United States Naval Observatory
ⓘ
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock
→
location
→
United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
ⓘ
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.
linked to: United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.