The following is a special IKONOS satellite image gallery of 13 ancient observatories around the world. Known for their ability to precisely align with the sun, moon and stars, these observatories are scientific marvels – then and now. The IKONOS satellite imagery captures the beauty of these ancient structures and allows viewers to see the architecture in relationship to its surroundings, creating a wonderful visual experience.
Angkor Wat -- Cambodia 
Created as a constant reminder of a greater cosmic order, Angkor Wat shows several apparent solar alignments with a nearby mountaintop shrine. A person standing at Pre Rup, six kilometers away, could watch the sun set over Angkor Wat at winter solstice. A person standing in the southwestern corner of the temple could watch a rising sun through the eastern gate during the summer solstice.
Casa Rinconada -- New Mexico, United States 
Casa Rinconada, built between 1070 and 1110 AD, sits on an isolated hill about one-half mile across the canyon from Pueblo Bonito. One of the six great community kivas in the area, the structure is about 20 meters across and four to five meters deep. A 1970s survey of the area found this site to have precise solstice and equinox alignments. The main axis of the kiva is aligned through doorways on both the north and south sides. Modeled on a perfect circle, niches in the interior form an east-west line. Scientists who measured the alignments of these features found the accuracy of the north-south alignment to be within 45 arc-seconds or three-quarter of a degree while the error in the east-west alignment is only eight arc-seconds. Solar alignments occur on the winter and summer solstices when sunlight entering the kiva falls upon one of six irregular niches. From a given niche, the sun framed in the narrow window could be seen.
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Satellite Image Gallery of Ancient Sites 
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