Konkoly Observatory
The Konkoly Observatory ( Konkoly Obszervatórium ) is an astronomical observatory in Budapest owned and operated by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences .
The observatory was founded in 1871 by the noble astronomer Miklós Konkoly-Thege as a private observatory .
history
The observatory is an astronomical observatory in Budapest owned and operated by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The observatory was founded in 1871 by the noble astronomer Miklós Konkoly-Thege as a private observatory and bequeathed it to the Hungarian state in 1899 as an "eternal gift to astronomy". Miklós Konkoly-Thege was an interesting personality of the 19th century and is considered to be the founder of modern astronomy in Hungary. It is not for nothing that the street that leads directly from the Normafa to the observatory is named after the researcher, politician and train driver. “Nowadays, the observatory is a meeting place for scientists to jointly explore comets, mineral planets, stars and light sources,” reports László Kiss , director of the observatory. In 1940, a comet was even discovered in the largest dome in the facility, which has a large Zeiss telescope. The observatory was also significantly involved in the large-scale Philae probe project . This is the first man-made device to land softly on a comet. The comet 67P / Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko was discovered. It is the first comet and the seventh celestial body in total that has been or is being explored by a landed space probe.
present
The research institute around the observatory currently employs around 80 researchers, including 50 astronomers, who come from universities or smaller observatories. The Budapest Observatory maintains international partnerships, which the director greatly values. They maintain international relations while exchanging knowledge with foreign partners. Above all, this includes the Max Planck Society in Germany. Added to this is valuable expertise from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Great Britain, Denmark and Australia. Finally, the observatory also conducts bachelor's and master's degrees at ELTE University in the field of astronomy. The observatory has also been open to the public since May 2016.
Web links
- The Observatory website (English)
- History of Konkoly (English)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 47 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ N , 18 ° 57 ′ 54 ″ E