The Kapteyn Astronomical Institute is the department of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

of the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The institute is named after its founder, Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn, who lived from 1851 to 1922. Jacobus Kapteyn was appointed professor of astronomy and theoretical mechanics in 1878 at a time when no astronomical tradition, let alone an

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 ...

, existed in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. Kapteyn's first "Astronomical Laboratory" was opened in 1896. In 1913, after various relocations, the laboratory moved to the Broerstraat, near the ''Academiegebouw'' in the center of the city. In 1970, the institute relocated to a new building on the campus site to the north of the city. Since 1983, the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute has been located at its present position in the Zernike building, where it shares a building with the Low Energy Astrophysics division of SRON. From 1965 until 1995, an observatory —also named after Kapteyn— (Dutch: ''Kapteyn Sterrenwacht'') was operated near the town of

Roden Roden is a name of Germanic origin, originally meaning "red valley" or an anglicization of the Gaelic name "O'Rodain". It may refer to: Places *Roden, Bavaria, a town in the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria, Germany *Roden, Netherlands, a town ...

, some 20 km Southwest of Groningen. The buildings still exist, but are no longer in use as an observatory, nor as an astronomical workshop. The research pursued by the institute's astronomers includes asteroids, planetary formation, stars, galaxies and cosmology. The Blaauw Professorship is an honorary professorship in the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics awarded by the Institute within the University of Groningen.

References

External links

Kapteyn Astronomical Institute Website
Research institutes in the Netherlands Astronomy institutes and departments University of Groningen {{Astronomy-org-stub