When Google Earth came out for the Macintosh, I had fun finding observatories (I wrote about it in the July 2006 Sky & Telescope, page 96). Doing so would have been easier with a website that former S&T editor Paul Deans told me about yesterday.

European Southern Observatory astronomer Nausicaa Delmotte has collected the locations of major, minor, and ancient observatories around the world that you can zoom in on using Google Maps. Select a facility from her list to bring up a map at the proper latitude and longitude. Or at least close enough — the location for California's Big Bear Solar Observatory was a bit off the mark.

Go check out an observatory you've never heard of.