What is an observatory and why is it needed? The largest telescope in the world Telescope at the observatory

I wonder when astronomy began? No one can answer this question for sure. Or rather, astronomy has always accompanied man. Sunrises and sunsets determine the rhythm of life, which is the biological rhythm of man. The lifestyle of pastoral peoples was determined by the changing phases of the moon, and agricultural peoples - by the changing seasons. The night sky, the position of the stars on it, changes in positions - all this was noticed back in those times from which no written evidence remains. Nevertheless, it was precisely the tasks of practice - primarily orientation in time and orientation in space - that were the stimulus for the emergence of astronomical knowledge.

I was interested in the question: where and how did ancient scientists obtain this knowledge, did they build special structures for observing the starry sky? It turned out that they were building. It was also interesting to learn about the famous observatories of the world, the history of their creation and the scientists who worked in them.

For example, in ancient Egypt, scientists for astronomical observations were located on the tops or steps of high pyramids. These observations were due to practical necessity. The population of Ancient Egypt was an agricultural people whose standard of living depended on harvesting. Typically, a period of drought began in March, lasting about four months. At the end of June, in the far south, in the area of ​​Lake Victoria, heavy rains began. Streams of water rushed into the Nile River, the width of which at that time reached 20 km. Then the Egyptians left the Nile valley for nearby hills, and when the Nile entered its usual course, sowing began in its fertile, moist valley.

Another four months passed, and the inhabitants reaped a bountiful harvest. It was very important to know in time when the Nile flood would begin. History tells us that 6,000 years ago, Egyptian priests knew how to do this. From the pyramids or other high places, they tried to notice in the morning in the east in the rays of dawn the first appearance of the brightest star Sothis, which we now call Sirius. Before this, for about seventy days, Sirius, the decoration of the night sky, was invisible. The very first morning appearance of Sirius for the Egyptians was a signal that the time of the Nile flood was coming and they had to move away from its banks.

But not only the pyramids served for astronomical observations. The famous ancient fortress of Karnak is located in the city of Luxor. There, not far from the large temple of Amun - Ra, there is a small sanctuary of Ra - Gorakhte, which translates as “The sun shining above the edge of the sky.” This name was not given by chance. If, on the day of the winter solstice, an observer stands at the altar in the hall called "The High Rest of the Sun" and looks towards the entrance to the building, he sees the sun rising on this single day of the year.

There is another Carnac - a seaside town in France, on the southern coast of Brittany. Whether the coincidence of the Egyptian and French names is coincidental or not, several ancient observatories were also discovered in the vicinity of Carnac in Brittany. These observatories are built from huge stones. One of them, the Fairy Stone, has risen above the ground for thousands of years. Its length is 22.5 meters and its weight is 330 tons. The Karnak stones indicate the directions to points in the sky where sunset can be seen on the winter solstice.

Some mysterious structures in the British Isles are considered the oldest astronomical observatories of the prehistoric period. The most impressive and most thoroughly researched observatory is Stonehenge in England. This structure consists of four large stone circles. In the center there is what is called the “altar stone”, five meters long. It is surrounded by a whole system of ring and arc-shaped fences and arches up to 7.2 meters high and weighing up to 25 tons. Inside the ring there were five stone arches in the shape of a horseshoe, with their concavity facing northeast. Each of the blocks weighed about 50 tons. Each arch consisted of two stones that served as supports and a stone that covered them on top. This design was called “trilith”. Now only three such trilithons have survived. The entrance to Stonehenge is in the northeast. In the direction of the entrance there is a stone pillar inclined towards the center of the circle - the Heel Stone. It is believed that it served as a landmark corresponding to the sunrise on the day of the summer solstice.

Stonehenge was both a temple and a prototype for an astronomical observatory. The slits of the stone arches served as sights, strictly recording the directions from the center of the structure to various points on the horizon. Ancient observers recorded the rising and setting points of the Sun and Moon, determined and predicted the onset of the summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, and perhaps tried to predict lunar and solar eclipses. As a temple, Stonehenge served as a majestic symbol, a place of religious ceremonies, as an astronomical instrument - like a giant computing machine that allowed the priests - the servants of the temple - to predict the change of seasons. Overall, Stonehenge is a majestic and, apparently, beautiful structure in ancient times.

Let us now move mentally to the 15th century AD. e. Around 1425, the construction of the world's greatest observatory was completed in the vicinity of Samarkand. It was created according to the plan of the ruler of the vast region of Central Asia, the astronomer - Muhammad - Taragai Ulugbek. Ulugbek dreamed of checking old star catalogs and making his own corrections to them.

The Ulugbek Observatory is unique. The cylindrical three-story building with many rooms had a height of about 50 meters. Its base was decorated with bright mosaics, and images of the celestial spheres were visible on the interior walls of the building. From the roof of the observatory one could see the open horizon.

A specially dug macht housed the colossal sextant of Farha - a sixty-degree arc, lined with marble slabs, with a radius of about 40 meters. The history of astronomy has never known such an instrument. Using a unique instrument oriented along the meridian, Ulugbek and his assistants carried out observations of the Sun, planets and some stars. In those days, Samarkand became the astronomical capital of the world, and the glory of Ulugbek crossed far beyond the borders of Asia.

Ulugbek's observations yielded results. In 1437, he completed the main work of compiling a star catalog, including information about 1019 stars. At the Ulugbek Observatory, the most important astronomical quantity was measured for the first time - the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator, astronomical tables for stars and planets were compiled, and the geographic coordinates of various places in Central Asia were determined. Ulugbek wrote the theory of eclipses.

Many astronomers and mathematicians worked with the scientist at the Samarkand Observatory. In fact, a real scientific society was formed at this institution. And it’s hard to say what ideas would have been born in it if it had been given the opportunity to develop further. But as a result of one of the conspiracies, Ulugbek was killed and the observatory was destroyed. The scientist's students saved only the manuscripts. They said about him that he “stretched out his hand to the sciences and achieved a lot. Before his eyes the sky became close and sank down.”

Only in 1908 did archaeologist V.M. Vyatkin find the remains of the observatory, and in 1948, thanks to the efforts of V.A. Shishkin, it was excavated and partially restored. The surviving part of the observatory is a unique architectural and historical monument and is carefully protected. The Ulugbek Museum was created next to the observatory.

The measurement accuracy achieved by Ulugbek remained unsurpassed for more than a century. But in 1546, a boy was born in Denmark who was destined to achieve even greater heights in pre-telescopic astronomy. His name was Tycho Brahe. He believed in astrologers and even tried to predict the future using the stars. However, scientific interests triumphed over misconceptions. In 1563, Tycho began his first independent astronomical observations. He became widely famous for his treatise on the Novaya Star in 1572, which he discovered in the constellation Cassiopeia.

In 1576, the Danish king set aside the island of Ven off the coast of Sweden for Tycho to build a large astronomical observatory there. With funds allocated by the king, Tycho in 1584 built two observatories that looked like luxurious castles. Tycho named one of them Uraniborg, that is, the castle of Urania, the muse of astronomy, the second received the name Stjerneborg - “star castle”. On the island of Ven there were workshops where, under the leadership of Tycho, they produced amazingly precise angular astronomical instruments.

Tycho's activities on the island continued for twenty-one years. He managed to discover new, previously unknown inequalities in the movement of the Moon. He compiled tables of the apparent motion of the Sun and planets, more accurate than before. The star catalogue, which the Danish astronomer spent 7 years creating, is remarkable. In terms of the number of stars (777), Tycho's catalog is inferior to the catalogs of Hipparchus and Ulugbek. But Tycho measured the coordinates of the stars with greater accuracy than his predecessors. This work marked the beginning of a new era in astrology - the era of accuracy. He did not live only a few years until the moment when the telescope was invented, which significantly expanded the possibilities of astronomy. They say that his last words before his death were: “It seems that my life was not aimless.” Happy is the person who can sum up his life's journey with these words.

In the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries, scientific observatories began to appear in Europe one after another. Outstanding geographical discoveries, sea and land travel required a more accurate determination of the size of the globe, new ways of determining time and coordinates on land and at sea.

And from the second half of the 17th century in Europe, mainly on the initiative of outstanding scientists, state astronomical observatories began to be created. The first of these was the observatory in Copenhagen. It was built from 1637 to 1656, but burned down in 1728.

On the initiative of J. Picard, the French king Louis XIV, the “Sun” king, a lover of balls and wars, allocated funds for the construction of the Paris Observatory. Its construction began in 1667 and continued until 1671. The result was a majestic building, reminiscent of a castle, with observation platforms on top. At Picard’s suggestion, Jean Dominique Cassini, who had already established himself as an experienced observer and talented practitioner, was invited to the post of director of the observatory. Such qualities of the director of the Paris Observatory played a huge role in its formation and development. The astronomer discovered 4 satellites of Saturn: Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys and Dione. The skill of the observer allowed Cassini to reveal that Saturn's ring consists of 2 parts, separated by a dark stripe. This division is called the Cassini gap.

Jean Dominique Cassini and astronomer Jean Piccard created the first modern map of France in 1672-1674. The obtained values ​​were highly accurate. As a result, the western coast of France turned out to be almost 100 km closer to Paris than on old maps. They say that King Louis XIV jokingly complained about this: “They say, by the grace of topographers, the territory of the country has decreased to a greater extent than the royal army has increased it.”

The history of the Paris Observatory is inextricably linked with the name of the great Dane - Ole Christensen Roemer, who was invited by J. Picard to work at the Paris Observatory. The astronomer proved from observations of eclipses of Jupiter's satellite that the speed of light is finite and measured its value - 210,000 km / s. This discovery, made in 1675, brought Roemer world fame and allowed him to become a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences.

The Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens actively participated in the creation of the observatory. This scientist is known for many achievements. In particular, he discovered Saturn's moon Titan, one of the largest moons in the solar system; discovered polar caps on Mars and stripes on Jupiter. In addition, Huygens invented the eyepiece, which now bears his name, and created an accurate watch - a chronometer.

Astronomer and cartographer Joseph Nicolas Delisle worked at the Paris Observatory as an assistant to Jean Dominique Cassini. He was mainly involved in the study of comets and supervised observations of the passage of Venus across the disk of the Sun. Such observations helped to learn about the existence of an atmosphere on this planet, and most importantly, to clarify the astronomical unit - the distance to the Sun. In 1761, Delisle was invited by Tsar Peter I to Russia.

Charles Monsieur received only primary education in his youth. He later studied mathematics and astronomy on his own and became an accomplished observer. Since 1755, working at the Paris Observatory, Monsieur systematically searched for new comets. The astronomer’s works were crowned with success: from 1763 to 1802, he discovered 14 comets, and observed 41 in total.

Monsieur compiled the first catalog of nebulae and star clusters in the history of astronomy - the typical names he introduced are still in use today.

Dominique François Arago has been director of the Paris Observatory since 1830. This astronomer was the first to study the polarization of radiation from the solar corona and cometary tails.

Arago was a talented popularizer of science and from 1813 to 1846 regularly lectured to the general public at the Paris Observatory.

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, an employee of this observatory since 1736, organized an expedition to South Africa. There, at the Cape of Good Hope, observations of the stars of the Southern Hemisphere were carried out. As a result, the names of more than 10 thousand new luminaries appeared on the star map. Lacaille completed the division of the southern sky, identifying 14 constellations, which he gave names. In 1763, the first catalog of stars of the Southern Hemisphere was published, the author of which is considered to be Lacaille.

The units of mass (kilogram) and length (meter) were determined at the Paris Observatory.

Currently, the observatory has three scientific bases: Paris, the astrophysical department in Meudon (Alps) and the radio astronomy base in Nancy. More than 700 scientists and technicians work here.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory in Great Britain is the most famous in the world. It owes this fact to the fact that the “Greenwich meridian” - the zero meridian of longitude on earth - passes through the axis of the passage instrument installed on it.

The foundation of the Greenwich Observatory was laid in 1675 by a decree of King Charles II, who ordered it to be built in the royal park near the castle in Greenwich “on the highest hill”. In the 17th century, England became the “queen of the seas”, expanded its possessions, the basis for the country’s development was the conquest of distant colonies and trade, and therefore navigation. Therefore, the construction of the Greenwich Observatory was justified primarily by the need to determine the longitude of a place during navigation.

The king entrusted such a responsible task to the remarkable architect and amateur astronomer Christopher Wren, who was actively involved in the reconstruction of London after the fire of 1666. Wren had to interrupt work on the reconstruction of the famous St. Paul's Cathedral, and literally within a year he designed and built the observatory.

According to the king's decree, the director of the observatory had to bear the title of Astronomer Royal, a tradition that continues to this day. The first Astronomer Royal was John Flamsteed. Since 1675, he supervised the work on equipping the observatory and also carried out astronomical observations. The latter was a more pleasant activity, since Flamsteed was not given any money to purchase instruments, and he spent the inheritance he received from his father. The observatory was helped by patrons - rich friends of the director and lovers of astronomy. Wren's friend, the great scientist and inventor Robert Hooke, rendered a great service to Flamsteed - he manufactured and donated several instruments to the observatory. Flamsteed was a born observer - tenacious, purposeful and careful. After the opening of the observatory, he began regular observations of solar system objects. The observations Flamsteed began in the year the observatory opened lasted more than 12 years, and in subsequent years he worked on compiling a star catalogue. About 20 thousand measurements were taken and processed with unprecedented accuracy - 10 arc seconds. In addition to the letter designations available at that time, Flamsteed also introduced digital ones: all stars in the catalog were assigned numbers in increasing order of their right ascensions. This notation system has survived to this day; it is used in star atlases, helping to find objects needed for observation.

Flamsteed's catalog was published in 1725, after the death of the remarkable astronomer. It contained 2935 stars and completely occupied the third volume of Flamsteed's British History of the Sky, where the author collected and described all the observations made before him and throughout his life.

Edmund Halley became the second Astronomer Royal. In his Essay on Cometary Astronomy (1705), Halley described how he was struck by the similarity of the orbits of comets that shone in the sky in 1531, 1607 and 1682. Having calculated that these celestial bodies appear with an enviably precise periodicity - every 75-76 years, the scientist concluded: the three “space guests” are actually the same comet. Halley explained the slight difference in the time intervals between its appearances by disturbances from the large planets past which the comet passed, and even ventured to predict the next appearance of the “tailed star”: the end of 1758 - the beginning of 1759. The astronomer died 16 years before this date, never knowing how brilliantly his calculations were confirmed. The comet shone on Christmas Day 1758, and was then observed many more times. Astronomers rightly assigned the scientist’s name to this space object - it is called “Halley’s Comet.”

Already at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries. English astronomers realized that the climatic conditions of the country would not allow them to maintain a high level of observations at the Greenwich Observatory. The search began for other places where the latest powerful and high-precision telescopes could be installed. The observatory near the Cape of Good Hope in Africa worked perfectly, but only the southern sky could be observed there. Therefore, in 1954, under the tenth Astronomer Royal - and he was the wonderful scientist and popularizer of science Harold Spencer-Jones - the observatory was transferred to Herstmonceux and construction began on a new observatory in the Canary Islands, on the island of La Palma.

With the transfer to Herstmonceux the glorious history of the Royal Observatory Greenwich ended. Currently, it is transferred to the University of Oxford, with which it was closely connected throughout the 300 years of its existence, and is a museum of the history of world astronomy.

After the creation of the Paris and Greenwich observatories, state observatories began to be built in many European countries. One of the first to be built was the well-equipped observatory of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The example of these observatories is characteristic in that it clearly shows how much the tasks of the observatories and their very emergence were determined by the practical needs of society.

The starry sky was full of unsolved secrets, and it gradually revealed them to patient and attentive observers. The process of understanding the Universe surrounding the Earth was taking place.

The beginning of the 18th century is a turning point in Russian history. At this time, interest in issues of natural science is increasing, due to the economic development of the state and the growing need for scientific and technical knowledge. Trade relations between Russia and other countries are intensively developing, agriculture is strengthening, and the need to develop new lands arises. The travels of Russian explorers contribute to the rise of geographical science, cartography, and, consequently, practical astronomy. All this, together with the ongoing reforms, prepared the way for the intensive development of astronomical knowledge in Russia already in the first quarter of the 8th century, even before the establishment of the Academy of Sciences by Peter I.

Peter's desire to transform the country into a strong maritime power and to increase its military power became an additional incentive for the development of astronomy. It should be noted that Europe has never faced such grandiose tasks as Russia. The territories of France, England and Germany could not be compared with the spaces of Europe and Asia, which Russian explorers had to explore and “put on the map”.

In 1690, in Kholmogory on the Northern Dvina, near Arkhangelsk, the first astronomical observatory in Russia was established, founded by Archbishop Afanasy (in the world Alexei Artemyevich Lyubimov). Alexey Artemyevich was one of the most educated people of his time, knew 24 foreign languages ​​and had enormous power in his domain. The observatory had telescopes and goniometer instruments. The Archbishop personally made astronomical and meteorological observations.

Peter I, who did a lot for the development of science and art in Russia, was also interested in astronomy. Already at the age of 16, the Russian Tsar practically mastered the skills of measurements using an instrument such as an astrolabe, and well understood the importance of astronomy for navigation. Even during his trip to Europe, Peter visited the Greenwich and Copenhagen observatories. Flamsteed's History of the Sky preserves records of two visits by Peter I to the Greenwich Observatory. There is information that Peter I, while in England, had long conversations with Edmund Halley and even invited him to Russia to organize a special school and teach astronomy.

A faithful associate of Peter I, who accompanied the tsar on many military campaigns, was one of the most educated people of his time, Jacob Bruce. He founded the first educational institution in Russia, which began to teach astronomy - the “navigation school”. There was a school in the Sukharev Tower, which, unfortunately, was mercilessly demolished in the 30s of the 20th century.

In 1712, there were 517 people studying at the school. The first Russian surveyors, who comprehended the secrets of science in the “navigation school,” faced a huge task. It was necessary to indicate on the map the exact position of settlements, rivers and mountains not only in the space of central Russia, but also in the vast territories annexed to it in the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. This difficult work, carried out over several decades, became a significant contribution to world science.

The beginning of a new period in the development of astronomical science is closely connected with the establishment of the Academy of Sciences. It was created on the initiative of Peter I, but opened only in 1725, after his death.

In 1725, the French astronomer Joseph Nicolas Delisle arrived from Paris to St. Petersburg, invited as an academician in astronomy. In the tower of the Academy of Sciences building, located on the Neva embankment, Delisle set up an observatory, which he equipped with instruments ordered by Peter I. Quadrants, a sextant, as well as reflective telescopes with mirrors, telescopes for observing the Moon, planets and the Sun were used to observe the celestial bodies. At that time, the observatory was considered one of the best in Europe.

Delisle laid the foundation for systematic observations and precise geodetic work in Russia. Over the course of 6 years, under his leadership, 19 large maps of European Russia and Siberia were compiled, based on 62 points with astronomically determined coordinates.

A well-known lover of astronomy during the Peter the Great era was the vice-president of the Synod, Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich. He had his own instruments—a 3-foot radius quadrant and a 7-foot sextant. And also, taking advantage of his high position, in 1736 he borrowed a telescope from the observatory of the Academy of Sciences. Prokopovich carried out observations not only at his estate, but also at the observatory established by A. D. Menshikov in Oranienbaum.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, an invaluable contribution to science was made by astronomy lover Vasily Pavlovich Engelhardt, a native of Smolensk and a lawyer by training. He was interested in astronomy since childhood, and in 1850 he began to study it on his own. In the 70s of the 19th century, Engelhardt went to Dresden, where he not only promoted the music of the great Russian composer Glinka in every possible way and published scores of his operas, but in 1879 he built an observatory. He had one of the largest - the third in the world at that time - refractor with a diameter of 12" (31 cm) and for 18 years alone, without assistants, he carried out a huge number of observations. These observations, at his own expense, were processed in Russia and were published in three volumes in 1886-95 The list of his interests is very extensive - these are 50 comets, 70 asteroids, 400 nebulae, 829 stars from the Bradley catalog.

Engelhardt was awarded the titles of Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (in St. Petersburg), Doctor of Astronomy and Honorary Member of Kazan University, Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Rome, etc. At the end of his life, when he was already approaching 70, Engelhardt decided to transfer all the instruments to his homeland, to Russia - Kazan University. The observatory near Kazan was built with his active participation and was opened in 1901. It still bears the name of this amateur, who stood on a par with the professional astronomers of his time.

The beginning of the 19th century was marked in Russia by the founding of a number of universities. If before this there was only one university in the country, Moscow, then already in the first half of the century Dorpat, Kazan, Kharkov, St. Petersburg and Kiev opened. It was universities that played a decisive role in the development of Russian astronomy. But this ancient science took the most honorable place at the University of Dorpat.

The glorious work of the outstanding astronomer of the 19th century Vasily Yakovlevich Struve began here. The pinnacle of his activity is the creation of the Pulkovo Observatory. In 1832, Struve was made a full member of the Academy of Sciences, and a year later became director of the planned but not yet created observatory. Struve chose Pulkovo Mountain, a hill located in close proximity to St. Petersburg, slightly south of the city, as the site for the future observatory. According to the requirements for the conditions of astronomical observations in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, the southern side must be “clean” - not illuminated by city lights. Construction of the observatory began in 1834, and 5 years later, in 1839, its grand opening took place in the presence of prominent scientists and foreign ambassadors.

A little time passed, and the Pulkovo Observatory became exemplary among similar astronomical institutions in Europe. The prophecy of the great Lomonosov came true that “the most glorious of

The muses Urania will primarily establish her home in our Fatherland.”

The main task that the employees of the Pulkovo Observatory set for themselves was to significantly increase the accuracy of determining the positions of stars, that is, the new observatory was conceived as an astrometric one.

The implementation of the observation program was entrusted to the director of the observatory, Struve, and four astronomers, including Vasily Yakovlevich’s son, Otto Struve.

Already 30 years after its founding, the Pulkovo Observatory gained worldwide fame as the “astronomical capital of the world.”

The Pulkovo Observatory owned a rich library, one of the best in the world, a true treasury of world astronomical literature. By the end of the first 25 years of the observatory's existence, the library catalog consisted of about 20 thousand titles.

At the end of the last century, it became clear that the location of observatories near large cities creates great difficulties for astronomical observations. They are especially inconvenient for astrophysical research. At the beginning of the 20th century, Pulkovo astronomers came to the decision to create an astrophysical department somewhere in the south, preferably in the Crimea, where climatic conditions would allow observations throughout the year. In 1906, employees of the Pulkovo Observatory A.P. Gansky, an outstanding solar researcher, and G.A. Tikhov, a future outstanding explorer of Mars, were sent to Crimea. On Mount Koshka, a little higher than Simeiz, they unexpectedly discovered two ready-made astronomical towers with domes, although without telescopes. It turned out that this small observatory belongs to the amateur astronomer N. S. Maltsov. After the necessary correspondence, N. S. Maltsov offered his observatory as a gift to the Pulkovo Observatory for the creation of its southern astrophysical department there, and in addition bought nearby plots of land so that astronomers would not experience any difficulties in the future. The official registration of the Simeiz Observatory as a branch of the Pulkovo Observatory took place in 1912. Maltsov himself lived in France after the revolution. In 1929, the director of the Simeiz Observatory, Neuymin, turned to Maltsov with a request to write an autobiography, to which he refused: “I don’t see anything remarkable in my life, except for one episode - the acceptance of my gift by the Pulkovo Observatory. I consider this event a great honor for myself.”

In 1908, using the installed astrograph, regular observations of minor planets and variable stars began. By 1925, minor planets, a comet, and a large number of variable stars had been discovered.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Simeiz Observatory began to rapidly expand. The number of researchers has increased; among them, G. A. Shain and his wife P. F. Shain came to the observatory in 1925. In those years, Soviet diplomats, including the outstanding Bolshevik L.B. Krasin, secured from the capitalist states the delivery of scientific equipment ordered by the Academy of Sciences before the revolution, and concluded new agreements. Among other equipment, a 102-centimeter telescope, the largest reflector of its time in the USSR, arrived from England. Under the leadership of G. A. Shain, it was installed at the Simeiz Observatory.

This reflector was equipped with a spectrograph, with the help of which spectral observations began in order to study the physical nature of stars, their chemical composition and the processes occurring in them.

In 1932, the observatory received a photoheliograph for photographing the Sun. A few years later, a spectrohelioscope was installed - an instrument for studying the surface of the Sun in the line of a certain chemical element. Thus, the Simeiz Observatory became involved in a major work on studying the Sun and the phenomena occurring on its surface.

Modern instruments, the relevance of scientific topics and the enthusiasm of scientists have brought international recognition to the Simeiz Observatory. But the war began. The scientists managed to evacuate, but the Nazi occupation caused enormous damage to the observatory. The observatory buildings were burned, the equipment was stolen or destroyed, and a significant part of the unique library was lost. After the war, parts of the meter telescope in the form of scrap metal were discovered in Germany, and the mirror was so damaged that it was not possible to restore it.

In 1944, the Simeiz Observatory began to be restored, and regular observations were resumed there in 1946. The observatory still exists today and belongs to the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

The observatory staff again faced the question, which had already been raised before the war, about the need to find a new location for the observatory, since the small site on Mount Koshka, where the observatory was located, limited the possibility of its further expansion.

Based on the results of a number of astroclimatic expeditions, a new location for the observatory was chosen in the mountains, 12 km east of Bakhchisarai, away from the illuminated cities of the southern coast of Crimea, from Sevastopol and Simferopol. It was also taken into account that the peaks of Yayla would protect the observatory from unfavorable southern winds. Here on a small flat top, 600 m above sea level

Currently, the scientific activities of the Pulkovo Observatory are carried out in six areas: celestial mechanics and stellar dynamics; astrometry; The Sun and solar-terrestrial connections; physics and evolution of stars; radio astronomy; equipment and methods of astronomical observations.

The Moscow Observatory was built in 1831 on the outskirts of Moscow.

At the beginning of the twentieth century it was a well-equipped astronomical institution. The observatory had a meridian circle, a long-focus astrograph (D = 38 cm, F = 6.4 m), a wide-angle equatorial camera (D = 16 cm, F = 0.82 m), a passage instrument and several small instruments. It carried out meridian and photographic determinations of the positions of stars, searches and studies of variable stars, and the study of double stars; The variability of latitude and the methodology of astrophotometric observations were studied.

Outstanding scientists worked at the observatory: F. A. Bredikhin (1831-1904), V. K. Tserasky (1849-1925), P. K. Sternberg (1865-1920).

Fyodor Aleksandrovich Bredikhin (1831-1904), after graduating from Moscow University, was sent abroad and within 2 years became an astronomer. His main scientific activity is the study of comets, and he is defending his doctoral dissertation on this topic.

Bredikhin was the first to organize spectral observations at the Moscow Observatory. At first - only the Sun. And then all the work of the observatory went along the astrophysical channel.

Russian astronomer Aristarkh Apollonovich Belopolsky (1854-1934). He was born in Moscow and graduated from Moscow University in 1877.

At the end of a course at Moscow University, Aristarkh Apollonovich Belopolsky (1854-1934), the director of the Moscow Astronomical Observatory, F. A. Bredikhin, suggested that for the summer he should systematically take photographs of the solar surface using a photoheliograph. And he agreed. Thus, by chance, A. A. Belopolsky became an astronomer. In the fall, he was nominated to remain at the university to prepare for a professorship in the department of astronomy. In 1879, Belopolsky received a position as a supernumerary assistant at the astronomical observatory. Classes at the observatory were devoted to systematic studies of processes on the solar surface (spots, prominences) and astrometry (meridian circle).

In 1886, he defended his thesis for a master's degree in astronomy (“Sunspots and their movement”).

The entire Moscow period of Aristarkh Apollonovich’s scientific work proceeded under the leadership of one of the founders of domestic and world astrophysics, F. A. Bredikhin.

Working at the Moscow Observatory, A. A. Belopolsky observed the positions of a selected group of stars using a meridian circle. Using the same instrument, he made observations of large (Mars, Uranus) and small (Victoria, Sappho) planets, as well as comets (1881b, 1881c). There, after graduating from university, from 1877 to 1888, he systematically photographed the Sun. The instrument was a four-inch Dalmeir photoheliograph. In this work, he was greatly assisted by V.K. Tserasky, who was at that time an assistant at the Moscow Observatory.

By this time, observations of sunspots had established a decrease in the angular velocity of the Sun's rotation from the equator to the poles and during the transition from deep to outer layers.

In 1884, using a heliograph, A. A. Belopolsky photographed a lunar eclipse. Processing the photographs allowed him to determine the radius of the earth's shadow.

Already in 1883, Aristarkh Apollonovich at the Moscow Observatory made the first experiments in Russia on direct photographing of stars. With a modest lens with a diameter of 46 mm (relative aperture 1:4), in two and a half hours he obtained images of stars up to 8 m.5 on the plate.

Pavel Karlovich Sternberg - professor, was director of the Moscow Observatory since 1916.

In 1931, on the basis of the Moscow Astronomical Observatory, three astronomical institutions were united: the State Astrophysical Institute, the Astronomical and Geodetic Research Institute, and the Moscow Astronomical Observatory, created after the revolution. Since 1932, the united institute, part of the Moscow State University system, became known as the State Astronomical Institute named after. P.K. Sternberg, abbreviated as SAISH.

The director of the institute from 1956 to 1976 was D. Ya. Martynov. Currently, after 10 years of directorship of E. P. Aksenov, A. M. Cherepashchuk has been appointed director of SAI.

Currently, SAI staff are conducting research in almost all areas of modern astronomy, from classical fundamental astrometry and celestial mechanics to theoretical astrophysics and cosmology. In many scientific areas, for example, extragalactic astronomy, the study of non-stationary objects and the structure of our Galaxy, the SAI occupies a leading position among the astronomical institutions of our country.

While doing my essay, I learned a lot of interesting things about astronomical observatories and the history of their creation. But I was more interested in the scientists who worked in them, because observatories are not just structures for observations. The most important thing about observatories is the people who worked in them. It was their knowledge and observations that gradually accumulated and now constitute the science of astronomy.

The most monumental observatory- Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India

Jantar Mantar was built in the early 18th century in the pink city of Jaipur. The observatory includes measuring instruments that are colossal in size, some of them the largest ever built. Giant structures are designed to observe the location of celestial bodies with the naked eye. The observatory is part of the Ptolemaic tradition of positional astronomy, which is shared by many civilizations. In 2010, Jantar Mantar Observatory was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

To see this Indian monumental miracle with your own eyes, we recommend staying at the Umaid Mahal Hotel.

The most equipped observatory- Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA

This scientific center occupies a vast area of ​​2,023,000 sq.m. on the island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea is one of the few places in the world where you can travel from sea level to 4,200 meters in two hours. Today, the observatory houses the world's richest selection of optical, infrared and submillimeter astronomical equipment. In addition, Mauna Kea houses more telescopes than any other observatory located on the top of the mountain.

To feel the Hawaiian mood and visit the mountain observatory, take a closer look at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel - it will be an excellent solution for a comfortable stay.

Oldest operating university observatory- Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands

An observatory was opened at Leiden University in 1633 to house the so-called Snell's quadrant. For the first two centuries of its existence, it served educational purposes. Currently, the Leiden Astronomy Center is the largest in the Netherlands, and has become internationally renowned for its research in a wide range of astronomical disciplines. The observatory is the oldest operating university observatory in the world.

You can enjoy the scenery of the southern province of the Netherlands by staying at the Golden Tulip Leiden Center, which is a homely haven for curious travelers.

Tallest observatory- Sphinx, Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

The Sphinx Observatory was built in the Swiss Alps in 1937 at an altitude of 3571 meters above sea level, at the highest altitude for Europe - there are no higher structures. Inside there are four laboratories, a weather observation station, astronomical and meteorological domes, and, of course, a 76-centimeter telescope. The Sphinx is a veritable scientific center for researchers in fields such as glaciology, medicine, cosmic ray physics and astronomy. In addition to scientific knowledge, the observatory delights visitors with vertigo-inducing panoramic views of the snowy Alps, green valleys, and the great Aletsch Glacier.

To see the snow-capped Alps, we suggest staying at the Hotel Alpenruh, which is located a few kilometers from the Jungfraujoch pass.

The largest observatory- Atacama Large Millimeter Array Observatory (ALMA), Atacama Desert, Chile

ALMA is the world's largest space observatory. This is an international project developed by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), which includes 14 European countries, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil and Chile as hosts. ALMA will allow scientists to study galaxies that formed during the first hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang, as well as unlock the mystery of the formation of celestial bodies.

For those who dream of seeing an astronomical miracle, the Terrantai Lodge Hotel is a good choice.

Resort Phuket. .

According to a recent publicationThailandis not only a popular tourist destinationMecca,but also the location of a rather large 2.4-meterThailand National Telescope. For comparison inRussiathere are only a few telescopes of comparable size. So I decided to go through the largest telescopesSouth-East Asia.

Geographically to South-East Asia include the following countries:

Let's start with Thailand. The main observatory of this country is located near the highest local mountain Doiinthanon.

Topographic map Thailand. .

The height of the observatory is 2457 meters above sea level. It has several telescopes: 2.4- and 0.5-meter. The largest telescope was made in Arizona, and its main mirror is in Moscow region at the factory LZOS.

2.4 meter telescope in Thailand. .

It is expected that at the end of 2014 the telescope will receive a high-resolution spectrograph. In addition, it is planned to create a network of public observatories with 0.5-meter telescopes and spectrographs by 2015.

Now let's move on to the largest country in the region - Indonesia. Due to the high humidity of the tropical region, it is difficult to find a good place for astronomical observations. The largest Indonesian observatory named after Bosses located on an island Java. It was built in 1923.

At the observatory named after Bosses There are several small telescopes with an aperture of 0.4-0.7 meters.A similar situation is withPhilippines. At the observatory Pagasathere is a 0.45-meter telescope built in 1954 with a Japanese grant.

0.45 meter telescope at the observatory PAGASA. .

IN Malaysiaalso known0.5 meter telescopes.

Paranal Observatory VLT telescope (part of the European Southern Observatory in Chile)

Today, residents of big cities cannot watch the stars. Even meteor showers, such simple (and spectacular) astronomical phenomena, remain under the radar. We live under illuminated night skies that suffer from high levels of light pollution.

For the opportunity to see the Milky Way not only in photographs, people go on astro tours, traveling through dark sky reserves. It is in such dark and sparsely populated places that the largest astronomical observatories are located. Some of the world's leading observatories are open to the public, giving us the opportunity to see what scientists are working with - the deep night sky.

European Southern Observatory and Telescopes of Chile

These high-tech towers are a Very Large Telescope - called the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Hereinafter photos by G. Lambert (ESO)

In northern Chile, in the middle of the Atacama Desert, the international research organization European Southern Observatory (ESO) has built several telescopes and observatories. Here, on the tops of the mountains, where dry and almost cloudless weather reigns all year round, is one of the world's main centers of astronomical research.

ESO has been observing the southern hemisphere since 1966, and continues to expand its capabilities to this day. The area's climate and high altitudes create excellent conditions for astronomical observations at millimeter, submillimeter and mid-range infrared waves. The following organizations currently operate under the patronage of the organization:

• La Silla Observatory, which houses 18 telescopes. A special place in the observatory is occupied by the New Technology Telescope. NTT was the first telescope to use active optics technology;
• The Chainantor Plateau Observatory is actually a whole group of astronomical observatories located at an altitude of more than 4800 meters above sea level in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The Chainantor Plateau is home to the active Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) radio telescope and the world's largest complex of radio telescopes, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA); designed to study the early period of the evolution of the Universe;
• Paranal Observatory - the Very Large Telescope is located here, considered today the flagship of European ground-based astronomy. It is the most technically advanced optical instrument in the world. It allows astronomers to see image detail 25 times finer than what individual telescopes show. The first observations are planned for 2024.

In 2017, construction of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) with a mirror with a diameter of 40 meters began in this region. The E-ELT will collect several times more light than the VLT, and its adaptive optical system, which compensates for the influence of the Earth's atmosphere, will provide images with a greater degree of detail than the orbiting Hubble Telescope.

66 ALMA telescopes on the Chainantor plateau in Chile. The positioning accuracy of each antenna is several millimeters

Almost all ESO sites are open to the public, but not all will give you the opportunity to look at real scientific instruments and study the night sky with a telescope. However, the very presence next to such objects is impressive. Paranal Observatory, ALMA and La Silla are open on Saturdays and Sundays. You should sign up for free excursions in advance through the observatory websites.

Also available to tourists is the American Cerro Tololo Observatory, located 80 km east of the city of La Serena and 100 km south of the La Silla Observatory. You will have to get there on your own, since there is no organized transport in this region.

View from the Paranal Observatory

In total, about 40% of all telescopes in the world of scientific value are concentrated in the Atacama. In the next ten years, this figure will rise to 70%, as Chile is building not only the E-ELT, but also the Giant Magellan Telescope, which will use a system of seven primary mirrors with a diameter of 8.4 m and weighing 20 tons each, as well as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, created to search for traces of dark energy and dark matter.

The La Silla Observatory is located in a completely isolated location and away from any artificial light and sources of dust.

All year round (except July and August), La Silla is open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays. Here you can see the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) - a high-precision spectrograph designed to search for exoplanets. More than a hundred planets have been discovered using HARPS.

Mount Wilson Observatory (USA)

The observatory on Mount Wilson (elevation 1,742 meters), northwest of Los Angeles, appeared in 1908 and is still in operation. Here is one of the largest telescopes in the Western Hemisphere, available for free visits and observations from April 1 to November 30.

Today, the observatory operates two reflecting telescopes (60-inch and 100-inch built in 1917), three solar telescopes, and a number of interferometric devices. Groups of no more than 25 people can reserve one of the telescopes for $800 to $1,500 (depending on time of visit).

Griffith Observatory (California)

Griffith Observatory, also known as the Los Angeles Observatory, has remained free to the public since its opening and today offers access to the 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope, installed in 1935.

Mauna Kea Observatory (Hawaii)

Since 1967, a complex of telescopes has been located on the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano, scattered at altitudes from 3730 m to 4190 m above sea level. The famous Keck Observatory is also located here, whose telescopes remained the largest in the world from 1993 to 2007, until the Grand Canary Telescope was commissioned.

The factor of remoteness from civilization and favorable climate made the observatory one of the best places in the world for optical observations (in the infrared and visible regions of the spectrum).

Every evening and night, Mauna Kea offers star tours and free access to telescopes (including solar ones with protective filters) that don't even require a reservation.

Extra Large Antenna Array (New Mexico)

You could also see this place in several films. A group of 25-meter Very Large Array (VLA, and more recently Expanded VLA) radio telescopes operate as a single multivibrator complex antenna, the overall sensitivity of which is equivalent to an antenna with a diameter of 36 kilometers.

You can wander among the massive antennas of the world's leading radio observatory on your own, from 8:30 a.m. to sunset. The site offers free tours on the first Saturday of every month.

Royal Observatory Greenwich (Greenwich-London)

The place will be of interest to those who want to learn more about the history of astronomical observations. London's light pollution no longer makes it possible to enjoy the view of the night sky, but the Royal Observatory, founded in 1675, houses a large collection of various objects that influenced the history of astronomy and navigation.

South African Astronomical Observatory (Sutherland, South Africa)

The South African Astronomical Observatory is located in the middle of the desert, at an altitude of 1800 meters above sea level, four and a half hours' drive northeast of Cape Town. The observatory is equipped with an optical telescope with a primary mirror diameter of 11 meters - the largest in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest in the world.

The observatory offers official tours, or you can visit it on your own and look at the night sky through telescopes 14" and 16" in diameter.

Teide National Park and Canary Telescopes (Canary Islands)

The Canary Islands rival Chile for clear night skies. In 2013, Teide National Park on the island of Tenerife was officially designated a Star Reserve by the Starlight Foundation, which works to preserve pristine night sky viewing conditions. Thanks to the untouched beauty of the night sky and ideal viewing conditions, the “Island of Eternal Spring” attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. The island even has laws regulating light pollution and airliner flight paths.

The island of Tenerife is also home to one of the most advanced and largest observatories in the world - Teide - open for guided tours. There are 60 scientific institutions from 17 different countries on all the islands of the archipelago.

On the neighboring high-altitude island of Palma, considered the second best astroclimate in the world after Mauna Kea, is the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, which has unique research instruments: the Swedish Solar Telescope with adaptive optics, which provides the highest resolution image of the solar surface, as well as The Great Canary Telescope, equipped with a composite mirror, one of the largest in the world.

Roque de los Muchachos allows you to observe the entire Northern celestial hemisphere and part of the Southern.

Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (Crimea)

An important place that we couldn’t help but mention. It deserves attention at least because it is much easier to visit than others. But in addition to the accessibility factor, it is important to take into account that the largest number of telescopes among the observatories of the former USSR is located in Crimea.

The Crimean Observatory is located in the mountains; The planets and stars in it can be viewed with a two-hundred-fold magnification. Lectures and excursions are held on the territory of the observatory. There is a special program “Astrovacation” for astronomy lovers. During your visit, you can see a museum telling about the achievements and history of the observatory, and get acquainted with the principles of operation of telescopes of various designs.

Pulkovo Observatory (St. Petersburg)

Scientists themselves call the St. Petersburg Observatory the main astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During excursions, including night ones, you can get acquainted with the 26-inch refracting telescope, the Large Pulkovo Radio Telescope and the Solar Telescope (one of the largest in Europe).

In addition to observatories, there are official “dark sky reserves” in the world where anyone can stay. The International Dark Sky Association annually ranks the places with the most beautiful skies. So in County Kerry in Ireland you can observe a particularly clear and bright night sky, for which the place received a “gold” level, and Hortobágy National Park in Hungary pleases with the beauty of the stars at the “silver” level. One of the most “star” places in the world is the unique designer hotel Elqui Domos in Chile. You can observe space without getting out of bed, here 320 days a year.

All objects from this article can be easily found instead with offline maps

An observatory is a scientific institution in which employees - scientists of various specialties - observe natural phenomena, analyze observations, and on their basis continue to study what is happening in nature.


Astronomical observatories are especially common: we usually imagine them when we hear this word. They explore stars, planets, large star clusters, and other space objects.

But there are other types of these institutions:

— geophysical - for studying the atmosphere, aurora, the Earth’s magnetosphere, the properties of rocks, the state of the earth’s crust in seismically active regions and other similar issues and objects;

- auroral - for studying the aurora;

— seismic - for constant and detailed recording of all vibrations of the earth’s crust and their study;

— meteorological - to study weather conditions and identify weather patterns;

— cosmic ray observatories and a number of others.

Where are observatories built?

Observatories are built in areas that provide scientists with maximum material for research.


Meteorological - in all corners of the Earth; astronomical - in the mountains (the air there is clean, dry, not “blinded” by city lighting), radio observatories - at the bottom of deep valleys, inaccessible to artificial radio interference.

Astronomical observatories

Astronomical - the most ancient type of observatories. In ancient times, astronomers were priests; they kept a calendar, studied the movement of the Sun across the sky, and made predictions of events and the destinies of people depending on the position of celestial bodies. These were astrologers - people whom even the most ferocious rulers feared.

Ancient observatories were usually located in the upper rooms of the towers. The tools were a straight bar equipped with a sliding sight.

The great astronomer of antiquity was Ptolemy, who collected a huge number of astronomical evidence and records in the Library of Alexandria, and compiled a catalog of positions and brightness for 1022 stars; invented the mathematical theory of planetary movement and compiled tables of motion - scientists used these tables for more than 1,000 years!

In the Middle Ages, observatories were especially actively built in the East. The giant Samarkand observatory is known, where Ulugbek - a descendant of the legendary Timur-Tamerlane - made observations of the movement of the Sun, describing it with unprecedented accuracy. The observatory with a radius of 40 m had the form of a sextant-trench oriented to the south and decorated with marble.

The greatest astronomer of the European Middle Ages, who turned the world almost literally, was Nicolaus Copernicus, who “moved” the Sun to the center of the universe instead of the Earth and proposed to consider the Earth as another planet.

And one of the most advanced observatories was Uraniborg, or Castle in the Sky, the possession of Tycho Brahe, the Danish court astronomer. The observatory was equipped with the best, most accurate instruments at that time, had its own workshops for making instruments, a chemical laboratory, a storage room for books and documents, and even a printing press for its own needs and a paper mill for paper production - a royal luxury at that time!

In 1609, the first telescope appeared - the main instrument of any astronomical observatory. Its creator was Galileo. It was a reflecting telescope: the rays in it were refracted, passing through a series of glass lenses.

The Kepler telescope improved: in its instrument the image was inverted, but of higher quality. This feature eventually became standard for telescopic devices.

In the 17th century, with the development of navigation, state observatories began to appear - the Royal Parisian, Royal Greenwich, observatories in Poland, Denmark, Sweden. The revolutionary consequence of their construction and activities was the introduction of a time standard: it was now regulated by light signals, and then by telegraph and radio.

In 1839, the Pulkovo Observatory (St. Petersburg) was opened, which became one of the most famous in the world. Today there are more than 60 observatories in Russia. One of the largest on an international scale is the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory, created in 1956.

The Zvenigorod Observatory (12 km from Zvenigorod) operates the only VAU camera in the world capable of carrying out mass observations of geostationary satellites. In 2014, Moscow State University opened an observatory on Mount Shadzhatmaz (Karachay-Cherkessia), where they installed the largest modern telescope for Russia, the diameter of which is 2.5 m.

The best modern foreign observatories

Mauna Kea- located on the Big Hawaiian Island, has the largest arsenal of high-precision equipment on Earth.

VLT complex(“huge telescope”) - located in Chile, in the Atacama “telescope desert”.


Yerkes Observatory in the United States - “the birthplace of astrophysics.”

ORM Observatory(Canary Islands) - has the optical telescope with the largest aperture (ability to collect light).

Arecibo- is located in Puerto Rico and owns a radio telescope (305 m) with one of the largest apertures in the world.

Tokyo University Observatory(Atacama) - the highest on Earth, located at the top of Mount Cerro Chainantor.