Description of the attraction
The Astronomical Observatory of Kazan University is located in an elevated part of the city center. It is located on the campus, 75 meters above sea level. Belongs to the Department of Astronomy of Kazan University, which was founded by Joseph Johann Littrow in 1810. The observatory has a scientific and educational function; it unites the Department of Astronomy (Faculty of Physics), laboratories of stellar atmospheres, astrophotometry and observational astronomy. The Astronomical Observatory is a regional center for the training and use of satellite navigation systems. This is of great practical importance for the development of the region.
The observatory building was designed by the architect M. P. Korinthsky in the classicism style. It is located near the main building of the university. The building was laid in 1833, and began to function in 1838.
The main facade of the building faces southwest. It has a concave shape and is surrounded by a terrace. On the wings of the building there are turrets for astronomical instruments. In the middle there is a tower with a 9-inch telescope - refractor, the diameter of which is 23 cm. The telescope-refractor was made in the Fraunhofer workshop. This is the largest refractor in Russia made in this workshop.
During a fire in 1842, the building was badly damaged, but was restored. In 1885, a time service was created at the observatory. The clock displayed in the window of the department showed the exact Kazan time. The newest instruments for that time appeared at the observatory: the Repsold heliometer, the equatorial, the George Dollond tube, the large passage instrument, the Vienna meridian circle. DI Dubyago, NI Lobachevsky, MV Lyapunov, DY Simonov, MA Kovalsky, P. S. Poretsky worked here. Nowadays, at the Department of Astronomy of the University, scientists conduct various studies, and post-graduate students and students are being trained.
