Gotha Observatory (''Seeberg Observatory'', ''Sternwarte Gotha'' or ''Seeberg-Sternwarte'') was a German astronomical observatory located on Seeberg hill near

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Initially the observatory was dedicated to

astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

, geodetic and meteorological observation and tracking the time. The minor planet 1346 Gotha was named after the city of Gotha in recognition of the observatory.

History

Planning for the observatory began in 1787 by the court astronomer Baron

Franz Xaver von Zach Baron Franz Xaver von Zach (''Franz Xaver Freiherr von Zach''; 4 June 1754 – 2 September 1832) was an Austrian astronomer born at Pest, Hungary (now Budapest in Hungary). Biography Zach studied physics at the Royal University of Pest, and ...

, with the financing of

Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Gotha (town), Gotha, 30 January 1745 – Gotha, 20 April 1804) was the reigning Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg from 1772 to 1804. He was the third but second surviving son of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Go ...

. It was based upon the

Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the buil ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The building was divided into five parts, with the central section holding a revolving dome. There were two wings to provide quarters for the staff. During

Peter Andreas Hansen Peter Andreas Hansen (born 8 December 1795, Tønder, Schleswig, Denmark; died 28 March 1874, Gotha, Thuringia, Germany) was a Danish-born German astronomer. Biography The son of a goldsmith, Hansen learned the trade of a watchmaker at Flensburg, ...

's term, the observatory was dismantled and moved to a less exposed location in Gotha. The observatory was closed in 1934.

Instruments

Around 1800, the observatory became an international center for astronomy, being the most modern astronomical institute primarily for its instruments. The instruments came from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the standard place to acquire them in the 18th century. These included an eighteen-inch quadrant, a two-foot

transit instrument In astronomy, a transit instrument is a small telescope with an extremely precisely graduated mount used for the precise observation of star positions. They were previously widely used in astronomical observatories and naval observatories to m ...

, three Hadley

sextant A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of cel ...

s, an achromatic heliometer, a two-foot achromatic

refractor A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and ...

, a Gregorian reflector and many clocks. By the start of the nineteenth century improved instrumentation was acquired from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, the standard place to acquire them in the 19th century: consisting of a

theodolite A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...

( Reichenbach, Utzschneider & Liebherr), a different heliometer ( Fraunhofer), new mounting, and three-foot meridian circle (Ertel, Utzschneider & Fraunhofer). No

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

was performed at the observatory and the only astrophysical equipment of the observatory was a Zöllner

photometer A photometer is an instrument that measures the strength of electromagnetic radiation in the range from ultraviolet to infrared and including the visible spectrum. Most photometers convert light into an electric current using a photoresistor, ...

Directors

The observatory directors were as follows: *

, 1787–1802 * Bernhard von Lindenau, 1802 - ? *

Johann Franz Encke Johann Franz Encke (; 23 September 179126 August 1865) was a German astronomer. Among his activities, he worked on the calculation of the periods of comets and asteroids, measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and made observations ...

, 1822–1825 *

1825 - 1876 * Karl Nikolaus Adalbert Krueger 1876 for four years * Hugo von Seeliger, 1881

References

{{Portal bar, Germany, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in Germany

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

1934 disestablishments in Germany

History

Instruments

Directors

See also

References