The Lee Observatory is an
astronomical
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, ...
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. H ...
on the campus of the
American University of Beirut in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
. Opened in 1873, it is the first and the oldest observatory of the Middle East in modern times.
Nowadays the observatory has only an academic role.
History
The Lee Observatory opened in 1873, with Doctor
Cornelius Van Dyck
Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck, M.D. (August 13, 1818 – November 13, 1895) was an American missionary physician, teacher and translator of the Protestant Bible into Arabic.[Owen Gingerich
Owen Jay Gingerich (; born 1930) is professor emeritus of astronomy and of the history of science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In addition to his research and teaching, he has ...]
, who organised the "Open Nights Observatory" events and made contributions to the observatory library.
Saad Sami Haddad Saad or Sa'ad may also refer to:
*Saad (name), people carrying the name or surname
*Sa'ad, a kibbutz in the Negev desert in Israel
*Saad Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football club
* Saad SC, an Iraqi football club
*Saad Specialist Hospital, in Khobar ...
drew a sky map of stars up to and including the 5th magnitude. He contributed in the filing of sunspot data taken daily and forwarded them to Zurich, the international center for sunspot research. Haddad made statistical tests revealing the significance of the East-West asymmetry of the sunspots activity, and was responsible for the gathering of meteorological data.
External links
AUB's detailed history of the Lee Observatory
Astronomical observatories in Lebanon
American University of Beirut
{{Lebanon-struct-stub