National Observatory Athens
The National Observatory Athens ( Greek Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθήνων Ethniko Asterosokopio Athinon ) is a research institution in Athens , Greece. It was founded in 1842, financed in large part by Simon of Sina , astronomical observations began in 1847. Its headquarters are on the Nymph Hill opposite the Acropolis in central Athens.
history
The astronomer and later director of the observatory Georg Constantin Bouris was involved in drawing up the plans for the building . Theophil Hansen was commissioned with the architectural design ; it is the first work of the later world-famous master builder. After Bouris became seriously ill and the post was only temporarily filled by Ioannis Papadakis, the position was advertised again. In 1858 Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt was appointed director. He stayed in Athens for the rest of his life after his retirement. He conducted more than 70,000 variable star observations at the observatory , studied comets and meteors, and discovered two supernovae . Schmidt initiated the Annalen Publications of the Observatory of Athens .
After the funds of the Sina donation were exhausted, the observatory became the property of the state. In 1890 the observatory was organized as a state research center, and departments for meteorology and seismology were expanded. These were renamed institutes in 1942 and expanded to include an institute for ionospheric research in 1950 .
Institutes
Since 1999, the following institutes have been grouped together:
- Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Chelmos Observatory (Greek Αστεροσκοπείο Χελμού Asteroskopio Chelmou ), houses the 2.3-meter Aristarchos reflecting telescope , named after Aristarchos of Samos . It is located 130 km west of Athens near the city of Kalavryta ( 37 ° 59 ′ 8 ″ N , 22 ° 11 ′ 54 ″ E ) at an altitude of 2340 m.
- Kryoneri Observatory, on Mount Kyllini ( 37 ° 58 ′ 19 ″ N , 22 ° 37 ′ 7 ″ E ) at an altitude of 930 m, houses a 1.2-meter reflector telescope
- Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development
- Institute for Geodynamics
- Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing
Web links
- Official homepage (English / Greek)
Coordinates: 37 ° 58 '24.1 " N , 23 ° 43' 5.8" E