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SearchResearch Challenge (3/30/22): Where is the oldest solar observatory in the Americas?

Dan Russell • March 30, 2022
 SearchReSearch
Republished with permission from SearchReSearch
SearchResearch Challenge (3/30/22): Where is the oldest solar observatory in the Americas? Dan Russell
We all watch the sun...


... sometimes with sunscreen, but nearly always at sunrise and sunset. We notice when the days grow shorter or longer, and as we've seen in earlier SRS Challenges, it's an endless source of fascination for people, shadows, and the time of year.

Since we've talked about the patterns that the sun makes in the sky, it got me to wondering, when did people first start keeping track and building observatories? We know that Stonehenge, those marvelous circles of stone and ridges of earth in England, was built between 3000 and 1520 BCE.

What about the New World? When did similar things start here?

That's today's Challenge--can you find out?

1. When was the first observatory for sun-watching purposes created in the Americas? Can you find out who made it? Where is it? And what happened to those people?

This Challenge isn't hard, but when I found the answers, I was a bit surprised. And naturally, once I started learning about these things, this led to further questions as I followed my curiosity a bit.

I'm curious now: What else did you find interesting to seek out? What did this Challenge prompt you to go learn about?

Curious is as curious does. Where does all this take you?

Tell us your stories in the comments below.

Happy observing!

Search on!

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About the Author

Dan RussellDan Russell

I study the way people search and research. I guess that makes me an anthropologist of search. While I work at Google, my blog and G+ posts reflects my own thoughts and not those of my employer. I am FIA's Future-ist in Residence. More »

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