Helsinki University Observatory housed the Department of Astronomy at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, south

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

until end of 2009. It is now an astronomy-themed visitor centre and museum.

History

The Helsinki astronomical observatory was designed in cooperation by professor

Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander (22 March 1799 – 17 February 1875) was a German astronomer. He is known for his determinations of stellar brightnesses, positions, and distances. Life and work Argelander was born in Memel in the Kingd ...

and architect

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840) was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ce ...

. The building was finished in 1834. Its instruments and astronomical books had escaped the great fire in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

and were then transferred to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The observatory was among the most modern astronomical observatories of its time, and served as an example for several European observatories that were built afterwards, most notably

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is located 19 km south ...

. A separate tower was built in the observatory garden for a telescope designed for astrophotography. This building was finished in 1890. It houses the double refractor: two 0.33 meter refractor telescopes mounted together. One of the telescopes is built to be fitted with an eyepiece and the other with a photographic plate. The observatory is located in the city centre and has not been in active use since the mid-20th century. Another observatory with a 60-centimeter telescope was built in Metsähovi,

Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; , , Sweden ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Kirkkonummi is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Kirkkonummi is approximately . It is the most populous Mu ...

in the 1970s. The

Metsähovi Radio Observatory The Metsähovi Radio Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Finland, affiliated with the Aalto University. Its main premises are in Metsähovi, Kirkkonummi, 35 kilometers west of the university's Otaniemi campus. The observatory curre ...

was built around the same time and is the centre for the radio astronomical research of

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

. The Department of Astronomy was merged into the Department of Physics at the beginning of 2010 and the astronomers moved to the

Kumpula campus The Kumpula Campus (, ) is a science campus of the University of Helsinki. The campus is located some four kilometres from the centre of Helsinki, in the Kumpula district. Completed in 2005, it currently provides study and research facilities f ...

. The observatory building was thoroughly renovated and re-opened as a museum and visitor centre in 2012. The building also now houses the amateur astronomy association Ursa.

References

External links

University of Helsinki Observatory home page

History of astronomy at University of Helsinki 1834–1984
{{Authority control Astronomical observatories in Finland Carl Ludvig Engel buildings

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 ...

Buildings and structures in Helsinki Ullanlinna University and college astronomical observatories

History

See also

References

External links