The Pulkovo Space Observatory

The Pulkovo Space Observatory (Russian: Пу́лковская Астрономи́ческая обсервато́рия), the principal space observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located 19 km south of Saint Petersburg on Pulkovo Heights (75 m above the sea level), at 59°46′18″N, 30°19′34″E. It is a World Heritage Site [1]. Image File history File linksMetadata Pulkovo_observatory. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Pulkovo_observatory. ... Space telescopes A space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects. ... Russian Academy of Sciences: main building Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... km redirects here. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Pulkovskiye Heights (Russian: Пулковские высоты) is a chain of hills located to the south of Saint Petersburg. ... Look up M, m in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...

The observatory was opened in 1839 (chief architect - Alexander Bryullov). Originally, it was a brainchild of an outstanding German/Russian scientist Vasili Yakovlevich Struve, who would become its first director (in 1861, his son Otto Vasiliyevich Struve replaced him on this post). The architect was Alexander Bryullov. The observatory was equipped with the state-of-the-art devices, one of them being the biggest 38-cm refractor in the world. The principal line of work of the observatory consisted of determination of coordinates of stars and astronomical constants, such as precessions, nutations, aberrations and refractions, and also discovering and measuring double stars. Observatory’s activities have also been connected to the geographical study of the territory of Russia and development of navigation. The star catalogues, containing the most precise positions of 374, and then 558 stars, were made for the years 1845, 1865, 1885, 1905 and 1930. 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An Architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... Alexander Brullov (self-portrait), 1830. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (April 15, 1793 – November 23, 1864 (Julian calendar: November 11)) was a German-Russian astronomer. ... 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar) // January 1 - Benito Juárez captures Mexico City January 2 - Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies and is succeeded by... Alexander Brullov (self-portrait), 1830. ... Look up device in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ... The 50 cm refractor at Nice Observatory. ... See Cartesian coordinate system or Coordinates (elementary mathematics) for a more elementary introduction to this topic. ... This article is about the astronomical object. ... In mathematics and the mathematical sciences, a constant is a fixed, but possibly unspecified, value. ... Precession on a gyroscope Precession refers to a change in the direction of the axis of a rotating object. ... Rotation (green), Precession (blue) and Nutation (red) of the Earth Nutation is a slight irregular motion (etymologically a nodding) in the axis of rotation of a largely axially symmetric object, such as a gyroscope or a planet. ... Aberration (Latin ab, from or away + errare, to wander), a deviation or wandering, especially used in the figurative sense as: In ethics, a deviation from the truth. ... The straw seems to be broken, due to refraction of light as it emerges into the air. ... When two stars are so nearly in the same direction as seen from Earth that they appear to be a single star to the naked eye but may be separated by the use of telescopes, they are referred to as a double star. ... Physical map of the Earth (Medium) (Large 2 MB) Geography is the scientific study of the locational and spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena on Earth. ... Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ...

By the 50th anniversary of the Observatory, they had built an astrophysical laboratory with a mechanical workshop and installed the world’s largest 76-cm refractor. Astrophysical research really gained momentum with the appointment of Feodor Bredikhin as a director of the Observatory in 1890 and transfer of Aristarkh Belopolsky from the Moscow Observatory, an expert in stellar spectroscopy and solar research. In 1923, they installed a big Littrow spectrograph, and in 1940 - a horizontal solar telescope, manufactured at a Leningrad factory. After having received an astrograph in 1894, the observatory began its work on astrophotography. In 1927, the Observatory received a zone astrograph and with its help the Russian astronomers catalogued the stars of the near-polar areas of the sky. Regular observation of movements of celestial poles began with the construction of the zenith telescope in 1904. In 1920, the Observatory started transmitting the exact time by radio signals. The observatory participated in the basic geodesic work, namely in measuring degrees of the arc of the meridian from the Danube to the Arctic Ocean (until 1851), and in triangulation of Spitsbergen in 1899-1901. Military geodesists and hydrographers used to work at the Observatory as interns. The Pulkovo Meridian, which passes through the center of the main building of the Observatory and is located at 30°19,6‘ east of Greenwich, was the point of departure for all former geographical maps of Russia. Spiral Galaxy ESO 269-57 Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature and chemical composition) of astronomical objects such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. ... Michael Faraday, 19th century physicist and chemist, in his lab. ... Fyodor Aleksandrovich Bredikhin (Фёдор Александрович Бредихин) (December 8, 1831 – May 14, 1904 (O.S.: May 1)) was a Russian astronomer. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Aristarkh Apollonovich Belopolsky (Аристарх Апполонович Белопольский) (July 13, 1854 (OS: July 1) – May 16, 1934) was a Russian astronomer. ... High resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines (fraunhofer lines). ... The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Joseph Johann Littrow (March 13, 1781 – November 30, 1840) was an Austrian astronomer. ... For Acoustic uses in spectrographs of sound waves, see below. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... A telescope (from the Greek tele = far and skopein = to look or see; teleskopos = far-seeing) is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Astrograph in Bolivia. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Astrophotography is a specialised type of photography that entails making photographs of astronomical objects in the night sky such as planets, stars, and deep sky objects such as star clusters and galaxies. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... The two celestial poles are the imaginary points where the Earths spin axis intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of gigantic radius, called the celestial sphere. ... The two celestial poles are the imaginary points where the Earths spin axis intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of gigantic radius, called the celestial sphere. ... A zenith telescope is an instrument adapted for the measurement of small differences of zenith distance, and used in the determination of astronomic latitude. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... In mathematics, a geodesic is a generalization of the notion of a straight line to curved spaces. Definition of geodesic depends on the type of curved space. If the space carries a natural metric then geodesics are defined to be (locally) the shortest path between points on the space. ... A degree (in full, a degree of arc, arc degree, or arcdegree), usually symbolized °, is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1／360 of a full rotation. ... In Euclidean geometry, an arc is a closed segment of a differentiable curve in the two-dimensional plane; for example, a circular arc is a segment of a circle. ... On the earth, a meridian is a north-south line between the North Pole and the South Pole. ... The Danube (ancient Danuvius, ancient Greek Istros) is the longest river of the European Union and Europes second-longest[3] (after the Volga). ... 1851 (MDCCCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Triangulation can be used to find the distance from the shore to the ship. ... Map of Svalbard, showing Spitsbergen in the North. ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article or section should include material from Erdmessung. ... Hydrography is the measurement of physical characteristics of waters and marginal land. ... Greenwich (pronounced grenn-itch or by some grinn-itch ) is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ...

In order to observe the southern stars that could not be seen on the observatory’s latitude, the scientists organized 2 affiliates. One of them was an astrophysical station in the Crimean town of Simeiz (Simeiz Observatory), which had been organized on the basis of a private observatory presented to the Pulkovo Observatory by an astronomy lover N.S.Maltsev in 1908. The other affiliate of the Pulkovo Observatory was an astrometric station in Nikolaev - a former observatory of the Department of the Navy (today’s Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory). Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi, , gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. ... An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity. ... Spiral Galaxy ESO 269-57 Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature and chemical composition) of astronomical objects such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. ... Motto: Процветание в единстве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Capital Simferopol Largest cities Simferopol, Eupatoria, Kerch, Theodosia, Yalta Official language Ukrainian. ... Simeiz (Симеиз) is a resort town in Crimea, Ukraine. ... Simeiz Observatory (also spelled Simeis) was an astronomy research observatory until the mid 1950s. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Astrometry is a part of Astronomy and deals with the positions of stars and other celestial bodies, their distances and movements. ... Nikolayev may refer to one of the following: A town and an important ship building and naval center of Ukraine and, formerly, of the Soviet Union and Imperial Russia. ...

Later history

The observatory staff was very badly affected by the Great Purge and many Pulkovo astronomers, including the director Boris Gerasimovich, were arrested and executed in the late 1930s. The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) is the name given to campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the late 1930s. ... Boris Petrovich Gerasimovich (Russian Борис Петрович Герасимович) (March 31 (March 19, Russian calendar) 1889 – June, 1937) was a Russian astronomer and astrophysicist. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...

From the very start of the World War II, the Observatory became the target of fierce German air raids and artillery bombardment. All of the buildings were completely destroyed. Under dramatic conditions the main instruments were saved and stored safely in Saint Petersburg, including the world biggest telescope, as well as a significant part of the unique library with scripts and important works from the 15th to 19th Century. On February 5, 1997, nearly 1,500 of the 3,852 books were destroyed by malicious arson and the rest of the library items were damaged by flames, smoke or water damage. Combatants Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total... Strategic bombing is a military strategem used in a total war style campaign that attempts to destroy the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. ... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... Captain Nemo and Professor Aronnax contemplating measuring instruments in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea In physics and engineering, measurement is the activity of comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... A telescope (from the Greek tele = far and skopein = to look or see; teleskopos = far-seeing) is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004. ...

Even before the end of the war, the Soviet government made a decision to restore the Observatory. In 1946, they began the construction after having cleared the territory. In May of 1954, the Observatory was re-opened, which had not only been restored but considerably expanded in terms of instruments, employees and research subjects. They created new departments, such as the Department of Radio Astronomy and Department of Instrument Making (with its own optical and mechanical workshop). The surviving old instruments were repaired, modernized and put into service once again. They also installed new instruments, such as the 65-cm refractor, horizontal meridian device, a photographic polar telescope, a big zenith telescope, stellar interferometer, 2 solar telescopes, coronagraph, a big radio telescope and all kinds of labware. The Simeiz station became a part of the new Crimean Astrophysical Observatory of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1945. They also built the Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station and a laboratory in Blagoveshchensk. The Observatory organized many expeditions for determining differences of longitudes, observing passages of Venus and solar eclipses, studying astroclimate. In 1962, the Observatory sent an expedition to Chile to observe stars in the southern skies. Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... Microwave image of 3C353 galaxy at 8. ... See also list of optical topics. ... Interferometry is the applied science of combining two or more input points of a particular data type, such as optical measurements, to form a greater picture based on the combination of the two sources. ... An example image from SOHO - NASA A coronagraph is a telescopic attachment designed specifically to block out the harsh, direct light from a star, so that nearby objects can be resolved without burning out the telescopes optics. ... The 64 meter radio telescope at Parkes Observatory A radio telescope is a form of radio receiver used in astronomy. ... The obervatorys logo The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) is located in the Ukraine. ... Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Blagoveshchensk (Russian: Благовещенск) (pop. ... Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ (lambda),[1][2] describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ... Photo taken during the 1999 eclipse. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

External link

• (Russian) Overview of the observatory