Museum of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory. Kyiv Observatory Kyiv Observatory

Kiev Observatory is one of the oldest university observatories in Ukraine.

History of the observatory

Construction of the observatory was completed in 1845. At first they wanted to place the observatory somewhere on the territory, but later this idea was abandoned. A separate plot of land was allocated for the construction of the observatory. Vicentiy Beretti was responsible for the design of the building. The Kyiv Observatory has always been well equipped. All kinds of instruments and devices were brought from Europe and St. Petersburg. The quality of some deserves special attention. For example, the meridian circle served from 1873 to 1996, and is now in excellent condition.

Interesting Facts:

During the construction of the tower for the telescope, the remains of the burial of some Kyiv nobleman were found.
Back in the early 20s, the observatory's services were provided weekly by an accurate time service.

Today at the observatory there are lectures and night excursions. Many people sacrifice their sleep for the beautiful sight of a night sky strewn with stars. Some come here in the hope of seeing the planets and the Earth’s natural satellite – the Moon – through a telescope.

The Astronomical Museum is open at the observatory. Astronomical instruments are stored here. In the museum you can trace the history of the development of astronomy. You can also see what instruments were used by the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians, with the help of which the world's astronomical discoveries were made, and what modern scientists use.

The Kiev Observatory is one of the oldest university observatories in Ukraine - it is more than 150 years old. A museum has been created at the observatory, which you can visit to look at the collection of ancient astronomical instruments, as well as to admire the starry sky through a telescope.

History of the Kyiv Observatory

The decision to create the Kyiv Observatory was made during the organization of St. Vladimir University (now Taras Shevchenko University). The area chosen for construction was at that time a suburb of Kyiv, and the mountain on which the observatory was located was only 15 meters lower than the highest point in Kyiv. Construction of the observatory, designed by Vincent Beretti, was completed in the winter of 1845. The 3-hectare site was lined with trees around the perimeter, which served as an additional barrier from city dust and lighting, which interfered with astronomical observations.

During the construction of the additional telescope tower in 1860, the remains of the burial of a certain nobleman were found; there is a version that it was the grave of the famous Prince Oleg, therefore the area where the observatory is located is sometimes called Oleg’s Mountain.

With the advent of the observatory in Kyiv, an accurate time service was created. Once a week, every Tuesday, Kyiv watchmakers came to the observatory to check their clocks with astronomical ones, the correction for which was determined previously at night using special temporary stars. Only in

In the 1920s, the observatory was equipped with a radio receiver, after which time began to be clarified not with the help of astronomical measurements, but by receiving radio signals that were transmitted by precise time services.

Astronomical equipment for the Kyiv observatory was ordered from St. Petersburg and Europe. The meridian circle (a device designed to determine the coordinates of stars) brought from Germany in 1873 turned out to be of such high quality that the measurements started on it in those distant times continued (with periodic modernization) until 1996. Now this device is in working order and is a decoration of the observatory museum. The first mechanical device, the Hipp chronograph, which recorded moments of time on a paper tape, appeared at the observatory in 1897.

In 1897, the publication of the “Annals of the Kyiv Observatory” began in French, which helped strengthen the prestige of the observatory.

In Soviet times, the observatory was not spared the terror of Stalin's repressions - the head of its geophysical department was accused of espionage in 1937 and shot. The director of the observatory had to resign and leave Kyiv to avoid the same terrible fate.

In the first days of the Second World War, specialists were still trying to conduct scientific work - the observation log preserved records for June 25 and 29, 1941, on these days Kyiv was already bombed. Soon the decision was made to evacuate the observatory - the most valuable equipment was sent by barge to Dnepropetrovsk, and from there by train to Ufa. The observatory returned to liberated Kyiv in the spring of 1944. Fortunately, the explosions and shelling did not damage the buildings, although according to the stories of the inhabitants, shells, cartridges and mines were found on the territory of the observatory long after the war.

Nowadays, with the development of information technology, many instruments have ceased to be used and have become exhibits of the observatory museum. The observatory gives lectures and conducts night excursions - anyone can look through a telescope at the Moon, Mars and even comets.

Kyiv Observatory at the University. T. Shevchenko Autumn evenings are conducive to romantic relaxation and stargazing. But in order to get a little closer to them, you can visit a place undeservedly forgotten by many residents of the city. The Kiev Observatory is one of the oldest in all of Ukraine. Here you can not only watch the starry sky, because the observatory museum contains a whole collection of ancient instruments with a unique history. It was founded in 1845. Observations and research are ongoing to this day. Already at the opening, the observatory had a portable telescope, a refractor-astrograph and several meridian circles, which made it possible to carry out research work fully equipped. One of the first memorable achievements was the calculation of the Kyiv meridian. Since then, observatory staff have been vigilantly monitoring celestial bodies distant from us. By the way, several comets and more than 600 new dwarf galaxies were discovered here. At the observatory, work is underway to study the Sun, monitor solar active formations, and study the occurrence of the solar wind. On the territory of the observatory, at different distances from each other, there are 4 domes: 3 active and one, apparently abandoned, standing on the outskirts. It was opened at the University of St. Vladimir, today known as Taras Shevchenko University. The place for construction was chosen very carefully - an elevation was needed, protected from city dust and artificial light. Today this place is called Oleg’s Mountain, because the remains of a certain gentleman found during construction, according to one version, belong to the glorious Kyiv prince. The observatory project was carried out by Vicentiy Beretti, who was quite famous at that time. In 1845, the observatory was finally built, and trees were planted around it, the purpose of which was to fight for the “purity” of the observatory’s observations. The accurate time service is one of the projects in the history of the observatory that was successful. Once a week everyone came here who wanted to compare their watches with the astronomical ones. Unfortunately, this original way of setting Kyiv clocks has been replaced by a more technological one. Already after the First World War, the observatory used a radio receiver and entrusted all clocks to precise time services. Most of the instruments for the observatory were ordered from Europe. Today these devices are the pride of the exhibition. Some of them can still work, despite their advanced age. One of these long-livers here is the meridian circle, brought in 1873. This device was modernized several times and was used in the observatory until 1996. Today the Kiev Observatory is a place imbued with the spirit of the past. Here they give lectures for those who want to learn more about the starry expanses and conduct night excursions. If you have ever dreamed of looking at the Moon, Mars, or solving the mystery of the twinkling stars, you should visit the cozy shelter of stargazers in Kyiv. The museum is currently closed for renovations, so visual observations and thematic lectures remain available to the masses. All contact information is on the official website of the astronomical observatory. Address: st. Observatornaya, 3 Metro: Golden Gate

There is a corner in Kyiv, lost among modern buildings, in which time seems to have stood still. Among the majestic chestnuts, maples and acacias one can see large and small domes that protect tireless workers - telescopes - from the weather. For more than 160 years now, the Kiev window into the vast, full of secrets and largely unknown Universe has been located here.

About the muse

The Astronomical Observatory of the Kyiv National University is actively working and is widely known in the scientific world. This amazing building can be considered both as a museum of specialized architecture, and as a memorial and local history museum, and as a scientific archive, but it is best known as the Museum of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory. For many years, the observatory has served as a scientific and educational center: everyone who is interested in various astronomical events, who is attracted by the prospect of looking at the celestial bodies with the naked eye, who is worried about eternal space problems, or who simply wants to know the name of their favorite constellation, comes here ...

The main building of the observatory is an architectural monument of national scale; it was built according to the design of the architect Vicentiy Beretti. Work on the project lasted several years to take into account all the then European standards for premises of this type. The instrument pavilions were designed with special attention; the buildings were oriented in the plane of the meridians, deep 8-meter bases for stationary telescopes that were not connected to the main room, and a special rotating part of the dome. Construction lasted for five years, from 1840 to 1845. Much later, already during the years of Soviet power, other pavilion structures were installed, including a retractable roof.

Over the more than 160-year period of existence of the observatory, many famous and extraordinary personalities managed to work within its walls. Initially, the observatory staff was very small, usually only 2-4 people worked here, but these were highly qualified specialists. Both the professor of astronomy and the astronomer-observer had to have a European education, a scientific degree and extensive experience in scientific and observational practice. Many of the Kyiv astronomers subsequently founded scientific schools, and gave their names to many methods of calculation, formulas, comets, minor planets, and details of the surface of the Moon. Their destinies are closely intertwined with the history of the city and country.

The Museum of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory did not begin its existence suddenly, but arose slowly and gradually, at first having neither a name nor a premises. It’s just that the observatory’s employees have always been distinguished by a very respectful attitude towards the materials and manuscripts of their predecessors; instruments and instruments were kept safe and sound for decades, constantly undergoing improvements and updates, and then were preserved as a sample and reminder of the ideas and selfless work put into them.

The idea of creating a museum arose back in the 30s of the twentieth century, after the centenary of the university was celebrated and preparations began for the 100th anniversary of the observatory. Professor S.D. Cherny, acting director of the Astronomical Observatory, collected materials on the history of the creation and existence of the observatory, even published several publications on this topic, but the dramatic events of the 30s, and after the war, did not allow all his ideas to be realized. But Cherny’s initiative was taken up by the chief computer scientist at the observatory, I.G. Ilyinsky, who worked here since 1908. He began working towards creating a museum even before the war and continued his work even in occupied Kyiv. And at the end of February 1945, when Kyiv was still mostly in ruins, the centennial anniversary of the observatory was celebrated and a small History Corner was established within its walls, in which materials, mainly of a memorial nature, were displayed on stands.

The Museum of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory received official status only in 1988, according to the order of the rector of KNU. In those years, it was located on the territory of the astronomical observatory and occupied part of the apartment of the former director of the observatory, Professor S.K. All Saints. By 2005, the extensive collection of collected material had expanded beyond these rooms, and exhibitions were opened in several more rooms. An exhibition of astronomical technology is exhibited in the Meridian Pavilion; the pavilion of operating instruments was also included in the excursion plan, since some telescopes installed in the pavilion are valuable historical exhibits. Museum visitors can also get acquainted with measuring instruments in a special measuring room.

Museum exhibits

The exhibits in the museum of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory are grouped in accordance with the direction of research; they can be used to track the historical development and problems that have been solved and will be solved with the help of astronomy. In one and a half to two hours of a fascinating excursion, visitors can get acquainted with the history of the design and construction of the observatory, see scientific equipment and instruments of different times, and observe spots on the Sun (in the daytime) or the Moon, planets and other celestial bodies (in the evening) using operating instruments.

For visitors

International name: Museum of the Kiev astronomical Observatory;
Address: Kiev, Goloseev microdistrict;
How to get there: You can get to the museum by trolleybus No. 11;
Opening hours: Monday-Friday, from 10:00 to 16:00, Saturday-Sunday days off;
Ticket price: adult 50 hryvnia, schoolchildren, students and pensioners 20 hryvnia.

Museum tickets: to avoid wasting time in queues, buy in advance on the websites;
Sightseeing tours: It’s better to take care of spending time in new cities in advance, services

Kyiv Observatory, founded by V.F. Fedorov, immediately after the organization she remained almost homeless. Fedorov himself, as already mentioned, was busy with administrative activities and some work at the observatory in the 50s was carried out by his two assistants: K.S. Polukhtovich and V.K. Pilipenko. However, the 9-inch refractor, meridian circle and passage instrument were not installed properly and gradually the observatory, on which little work was done, fell into such disrepair that it actually had to be rebuilt from scratch. Fedorov’s successor in the department of astronomy, A.P., was busy with this matter. Shidlovsky, who moved here from Kharkov in 1856, but only in 1862 a new observatory building was built. During his years in Kyiv, Shidlovsky restored the observatory and its damaged instruments. He described the installation of the refractor, determined the latitude of the observatory (1863) and made observations with a portable vertical circle for the same purpose.

In 1869, F.A. was elected professor at Kyiv University. Bredikhin, but after two months he returned to Moscow again, and instead of him M.F. was appointed to Kyiv. Khandrikov, observational astronomer at the Moscow Observatory. M. F. Khandrikov (1837-1915) laid the foundation for systematic work on fundamental astrometry at the Kyiv Observatory. He built a meridian hall and installed the Repsold meridian circle in it, on which, together with the astronomer-observer V.I. Fabricius (1845-1895) compiled a catalog of the positions of the circumpolar stars and stars of the zone of the International Astronomical Society. Khandrikov also observed on a large passage instrument and processed his Moscow observations on the meridian circle, and Fabritius developed a new way of taking into account instrument errors from observations of a faint star, even closer to the pole than Polaris, and called Polarissima.

M.F. Khandrikov led the observatory for about 30 years and, perhaps, is best known as a theoretical astronomer and as a teacher, the author of a number of works and textbooks, which Russian students studied for more than twenty years. Thus, he wrote “System of Astronomy” in 3 volumes (1875-1877), “Essay on Theoretical Astronomy” (1883), “Descriptive Astronomy” (1886 and 1896), “Theory of the Earth’s Figure” (1900), “Theory of Movement planets and comets using conic sections" (1890), "Essay on the theory of determining planetary and cometary orbits from three observations" (doctoral dissertation, 1865), "General perturbation theory" (1871), "On the application of Euler's equation to the calculation of elliptical orbits of planets and comets" (1877) and a number of works on the study of meteors and geodesy, as well as mathematics. IN AND. Fabritius and Khandrikov's successor in the department R.F. Vogel (1859-1920; from 1894 astronomer-observer, from 1897 - professor, in 1901-1920 - director of the observatory) and astronomers I.I. Ilyinsky and S.D. Cherny continued to develop theoretical problems, being representatives of the Kyiv school of theoretical astronomy.

Fabricius proposed two new methods for determining cometary orbits and in a number of works (before 1891) studied the number of solutions when determining orbits using the methods of Gauss and Olbers. Fabricius's second method was simplified in the work of Vogel (1892). The latter also gave a method for determining parabolic orbits and published many more works on theoretical astronomy. I.I. Ilyinsky came up with a graphical method for solving the Vogel equation and, thus, the work of Fabritius was further developed in Kyiv.

R.F. Vogel also considered (1895) the case of determining orbits close to the ecliptic plane (this work received a prize from the Russian Astronomical Society) and other issues of determining orbits (1889-1913). S.D. Cherny (1911) wrote the most detailed description in Russian of methods for calculating parabolic orbits from three observations and a number of private works on the same issues, starting in 1907.

In total, until 1917, astronomers at the Kyiv Observatory published about 40 works on theoretical astronomy, many of which were significant contributions to this branch of science.

The astrometric work of Khandrikov and Fabritius at the Kyiv Observatory was continued by the astronomer-observer M.P. Dichenko (1863-1932). For 34 years (since 1898), he determined the positions of the stars of the Argelander catalog on the meridian circle, studied the proper movements of the stars, and his catalog of the positions of the zodiacal stars was published in 1938 after his death.