Organization | |
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Observatory code | 013 |
Location | Leiden, Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°09′17″N4°29′02″E / 52.15486°N 4.48389°E |
Website | www |
Related media on Commons | |
Leiden Observatory (Dutch : Sterrewacht Leiden) is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Willebrord Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, with the only older still existing observatory being the Vatican Observatory. [1] [2]
The observatory was initially located on the university building in the centre of Leiden before a new observatory building and dome were constructed in the university's botanical garden in 1860. It remained there until 1974 when the department moved to the science campus north-west of the city. Notable astronomers that have worked or directed the observatory include Willem de Sitter, Ejnar Hertzsprung and Jan Oort.
Leiden University established the observatory in 1633; astronomy had been on the curriculum for a long time, and due to possession of a large quadrant built by Rudolph Snellius, Jacobus Golius requested an observatory in which to use it. The observatory was one of the first purpose-built observatories in Europe. Though Golius used the observatory regularly, no publications came from its use by him. [3] It is not known whether Golius had any instrumentation other than Snellius' quadrant at the observatory. [2]
In 1682 Burchardus de Volder became professor of mathematics at the university and thus took over responsibility for the observatory. During his tenure, the observatory was enlarged, including a second turret to house a brass sextant which he purchased, and the rebuilding of the old turret. Both turrets had rotating roofs. Upon retiring in 1705, de Volder handed over a catalogue of instruments which showed that the observatory owned two other quadrants, a 12-inch telescope, two objectives, and several smaller telescopes. For the next two years, Lotharius Zumbach de Coesfeld ran the observatory until his appointment as professor of mathematics in Kassel in 1708. Between then and 1717 the observatory went without a director until Willem 's Gravesande was appointed director. During his time at the observatory, Gravesande purchased a number of new instruments including new telescopes and tools, before his death in 1742. [2]
Gravesande's successor was Johan Lulofs who used the observatory to observe Halley's comet in 1759 and solar transits of Mercury (in 1743 and 1753) and Venus (in 1761). In November 1768 when Lulofs died, Dionysius van de Wijnpersse took over responsibility for the observatory until Pieter Nieuwland became its director in 1793 for a year until he died in 1794. For a number of years the curators attempted to find a suitable astronomer to look after the observatory, eventually employing Jan Frederik van Beeck Calkoen in 1799, who left in 1805. [2]
In 1817 the observatory towers were pulled down and rebuilt. Frederik Kaiser was appointed lecturer of astronomy and director of the observatory in 1837, and again renovated the observatory, providing the towers with rotatable roofs with full shutters, and reinforcing the north-western tower. Kaiser also acquired a number of new instruments and telescopes with which he made observations including that of comets, planets, and binary stars. [2]
As a result of the increased interest in astronomy brought about due to Kaiser's popular writings and teachings, a commission was founded in 1853 to fund a new observatory. [2] From 1859 to 1909 the Netherlands civil time was set according to the local civil time at the observatory; communicated using the telegraphic network. [4]
By 1860 the new observatory building was completed. The new building was constructed in a quiet side of the city inside the university's botanical gardens. It consisted of a number of offices, living quarters for astronomers, and a number of observing domes containing telescopes. In 1873 two new rooms were added to the building in order to house the tools required to verify nautical instruments; tools used to test compasses, sextants and other instruments. Two of the domes were rebuilt, one in 1875 and the other in 1889. [2]
More new buildings were constructed before the end of the 19th century including the Western tower in 1878, one to the East in 1898, and another small building to house a gas engine in the same year (used for electricity until the observatory was connected to the city grid). In 1896 the observatory purchased their first photographic telescope, with a dome being built to house it between then and 1898. [2]
In 1923 the observatory formed a research agreement with Union Observatory to allow researchers use of both facilities. The first visitor from Leiden was Ejnar Hertzsprung. In 1954 the telescopes were moved to Hartbeespoort. [5] The collaboration lasted until 1972. [6]
The old Observatory building of this period was restored from 2008 to 2012, and in the 2010s houses a visitor center and also has tours. [7] [8]
The astronomy department moved to the science campus north-west of the city centre in 1974. [9] Although professional astronomical observations are no longer carried out from Leiden itself, the department still calls itself Leiden Observatory. In much of astronomy, the data came from elsewhere and could be analyzed and studied on the campus; for example in modern times the instruments may even be located in space, with data transmitted back to Earth and then studied on a computer display. (An example of this was the Astronomical Netherlands Satellite, launched in 1974.)
The archive of the Leiden Observatory is available at Leiden University Library and digitally accessible through Digital Collections [10]
Einstein's Chair is an astronomical observing chair at the Leiden Observatory. This chair, made in 1861, is the only piece of furniture in the observatory that dates from that time. The chair gets its name from the fact that it was used by Albert Einstein on several occasions during his visits to the observatory. Einstein was a frequent visitor of the building during his professorship at Leiden university due to his good friendship with the director, Willem de Sitter. The chair can be found in the largest dome of the observatory, the so-called 10-inch dome (named after the 10-inch telescope that is placed inside). The chair is still used by observers and a popular attraction at the observatory.
On 21 October 2015, Einstein's Chair got a short segment on the Dutch astronomy program Heel Nederland Kijkt Sterren. During this segment the science populariser Govert Schilling and the science historian David Baneke talked about its origins. [11] [12]
Einstein is noted for his visits to Leiden Observatory during World War I. [13]
The old Observatory building facilities (from 1860s) was restored in the 2010s. While not longer the base for the modern Leiden Observatory academically, it does have the astronomical historical items at the facility. Also, a solar telescope was crowd funded to provide live optically transmitted images of the Sun to the Visitor center, which is also known to have offered tours.
The archives of the Leiden Observatory and its successive directors, 1829-1992 are held at Leiden University Libraries and are digitally available.
Term | Director |
---|---|
1633–1667 [2] | Jacobus Golius |
1668–1681 [2] | Christiaan Melder |
1682–1705 [2] | Burchardus de Volder |
1705–1708 [2] | Lotharius Zumbach de Coesfeld |
1717–1742 [2] | Willem Jacob Gravesande |
1742–1768 [2] | Johan Lulofs |
1768–1793 [2] | Dionysius van de Wijnpersse |
1793–1794 [2] | Pieter Nieuwland |
1799–1805 [2] | Jan Frederik van Beeck Calkoen |
1811–1826 [2] | Cornelus Ekama |
1826–1837 [2] | Pieter Uijlenbroek |
1837–1872 [14] | Frederik Kaiser |
1872–1908 [15] | H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen |
1908–1918 [16] | E. F. van de Sande Bakhuyzen |
1918–1934 [14] | Willem de Sitter |
1934–1945 [14] | Ejnar Hertzsprung |
1945–1970 [14] | Jan Oort |
1996–2003 [17] | George K. Miley |
2004–2012 | Tim de Zeeuw |
2012–2022 [18] | Huub Röttgering |
2022–Present | Ignas Snellen |
Examples: [19]
Ejnar Hertzsprung was a Danish chemist and astronomer.
Prof Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn FRS FRSE LLD was a Dutch astronomer. He carried out extensive studies of the Milky Way. He found that the apparent movement of stars was not randomly distributed but had two preferential directions: the two star streams. This discovery was later reinterpreted as evidence for galactic rotation. Kapteyn also suggested that these stellar velocities could be used to find the amount of non-luminous matter in the galaxy.
Jan Hendrik Oort was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. The New York Times called him "one of the century's foremost explorers of the universe"; the European Space Agency website describes him as "one of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century" and states that he "revolutionised astronomy through his ground-breaking discoveries." In 1955, Oort's name appeared in Life magazine's list of the 100 most famous living people. He has been described as "putting the Netherlands in the forefront of postwar astronomy".
Willem de Sitter was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.
Union Observatory also known as Johannesburg Observatory (078) is a defunct astronomical observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa that was operated between 1903 and 1971. It is located on Observatory Ridge, the city's highest point at 1,808 metres altitude in the suburb 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 of Saint Petersburg on Pulkovo Heights 75 metres (246 ft) above sea level. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. It was formerly known as the Imperial Observatory at Pulkowo.
The Stockholm Observatory is an astronomical observatory and institution in Stockholm, Sweden, founded in the 18th century and today part of Stockholm University. In 1931, the new Stockholm Observatory, nicknamed "Saltis", was inaugurated on the Karlsbaderberget at Saltsjöbaden, near Stockholm, and operated until 2001.
The City Observatory was an astronomical observatory on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is also known as the Calton Hill Observatory.
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, and the ROE Visitor Centre.
Grubb Parsons was a historic manufacturer of telescopes, active in the 19th and 20th centuries. They built numerous large research telescopes, including several that were the largest in the world of their type.
The University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory, located at 901 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, was built in 1896, and was designed by Charles A. Gunn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 1986, and on December 20, 1989, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Mills Observatory is the first purpose-built public astronomical observatory in the UK, located in Dundee, Scotland. Built in 1935, the observatory is classically styled in sandstone and has a distinctive 7 m dome, which houses a Victorian refracting telescope, a small planetarium, and display areas. The dome is one of two made from papier-mâché to survive in the UK, the other being at the Godlee Observatory.
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is a German research institute. It is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam (AOP) founded in 1874. The latter was the world's first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP was founded in 1992, in a re-structuring following the German reunification.
Østervold Observatory is a former astronomical observatory in Copenhagen, Denmark owned and operated by the University of Copenhagen. It opened in 1861 as a replacement for the university's old observatory at Rundetårn.
The Quito Astronomical Observatory is a research institute of EPN, the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador. Its major research fields are astronomy and atmospheric physics.
The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, is a former scientific institution in South Africa. Founded by the British Board of Longitude in 1820, its main building is now the headquarters building of the South African Astronomical Observatory.
Adriaan Jan Wesselink (1909–1995) was a Dutch astronomer who worked successively in the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States. He specialised in observing and understanding the characteristics of stars, particularly variable stars.
The parallactic instrument of Kapteyn is a measuring instrument created by the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn around 1886. Using this instrument, Kapteyn analyzed over 1,700 glass plate photos of stars seen from the southern hemisphere. This research contributed to the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, a star catalogue containing 454,875 entries. Together with the measurements of stars seen from the northern hemisphere the measurements of Kapteyn formed a complete star catalogue with a scope and accuracy that was impressive for its time.
Potsdam Great Refractor is an historic astronomical telescope in an observatory in Potsdam, Germany.
The Netherlands Research School for Astronomy is a graduate school specializing in astronomy, based in the Netherlands. This graduate school was founded in 1992.
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