{{Infobox observatory |name = Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory |image = 250px |caption = The building of old Astronomical Observatory (south extension by Marcin Knackfuss) |organization = Vilnius University |code = 70 (before 1939), 570 (after 1939) |location = Vilnius, Lithuania |coords = {{coord|54|40|59.2|N|25|17|11.4|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |altitude = {{Convert|101|m|ft}} |established = 1753 |closed = 1881 (reopened in 1919) |architect = Marcin Knackfuss }}
The '''Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory''' (Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universiteto astronomijos observatorija'') is an astronomical observatory of Vilnius University. It was founded in 1753 by the initiative of Thomas Zebrowski.<ref name=link1>{{cite book |last = Drėma |first=Vladas|title = Dingęs Vilnius |language=lt|location = Vilnius|publisher = Vaga|year = 1991|page = 221|isbn = 5-415-00366-5}}</ref> The observatory is the fourth oldest observatory in the Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vu.lt/en/welcome/history/observatory/|title=Astronomical Observatory|work=History|publisher=Vilnius University|access-date=2009-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312073300/http://www.vu.lt/en/welcome/history/observatory/|archive-date=2009-03-12|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klimka |first1=Libertas |title=Apie reikšmingas astronomijos mokslui datas |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/nuomones/3/28375/libertas-klimka-apie-reiksmingas-astronomijos-mokslui-datas |website=Lrt.lt |access-date=7 March 2021 |page=3 |language=lt |date=29 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klimka |first1=Libertas |title=Tiksliųjų mokslų pradininkas Tomas Žebrauskas (1714-1758) |url=https://etnokosmomuziejus.lt/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Tomas_Zebrauskas.pdf |website=etnokosmomuziejus.lt |language=lt |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref> While the observatory is no longer able to make astronomical observations due to light pollution in Vilnius (observations are carried out at Molėtai Astronomical Observatory), it continues scientific research.
==Early history== [[File:Portrait of Thomas Zebrowski.jpg|thumb|left|Thomas Zebrowski holding picture of Vilnius University Observatory]] In 1753, by the initiative of Thomas Zebrowski, the Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory was established, which was among the first observatories in Europe and the first in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name="ObservatoryVle">{{cite web |title=Vilniaus universiteto astronomijos observatorija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vilniaus-universiteto-astronomijos-observatorija/ |website=vle.lt |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Vilniaus universiteto Astronomijos observatorija |url=https://www.ff.vu.lt/tfai/struktura/vilniaus-universiteto-astronomijos-observatorija |website=ff.vu.lt |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925101503/https://www.ff.vu.lt/tfai/struktura/vilniaus-universiteto-astronomijos-observatorija |url-status=dead }}</ref> The construction was funded by Elżbieta Ogińska-Puzynina. The first telescope (13.5 cm reflector) was donated by Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, Grand Hetman of the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> Second, 10 cm reflector, was donated by bishop of Vilnius Józef Stanisław Sapieha.<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/>
The golden age of the Observatory began when Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt was its director (1764–1807). In 1777, Poczobutt created a constellation entitled ''Taurus Poniatovii'' to honor Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was remembered as a very skillful observer who left a large amount of observational data. Later those observations were used by Jérôme Lalande in his calculations of the orbit of Mercury. Poczobutt also sanctioned the extension of the Observatory to the south. It was designed and built by the prominent architect Marcin Knackfus in 1782–88.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martynas Počobutas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/martynas-pocobutas/ |website=vle.lt |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>
Later the observatory was headed by Jan Śniadecki (1807–1825) and Piotr Sławinski (1825–1843).<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> They observed planets, their satellites, asteroids and comets, eclipses of the Sun and Moon. In 1861, Georg Thomas Sabler, the director of the observatory, proposed to acquire for that purpose new instruments, among which were a solar photoheliograph, a photometer and a spectroscope. Spectroscopic observations of the Sun and photometric observations of stars were subsequently initiated. A photoheliograph was successfully acquired in 1864; it was the second such device in the entire world (after the one in London).<ref>{{cite web |title=Georg Sabler |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/georg-sabler/ |website=vle.lt |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> In 1868, systematic photographic research of sunspot dynamics was launched, the first of its kind.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Klimka |first1=Libertas |title=Senosios Vilniaus astronomijos observatorijos instrumentarijus |date=20 June 2001 |publisher=Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences |location=Vilnius |page=44 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2001~1367156198266/J.04~2001~1367156198266.pdf |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Klimka |first1=Libertas |title=Istorija XXXV |date=1997 |pages=122–123 |url=https://www.vdu.lt/cris/bitstream/20.500.12259/104865/1/ISSN2029-7181_1997_V_35.PG_122-134.pdf |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>
In 1876, a fire broke out in the observatory, causing heavy damage. The observatory did not receive any funds for restoration and five years later was closed.<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> The library and instruments were distributed among various institutions of the Russian Empire, the main part of which was transferred to the Pulkovo Observatory.<ref>{{cite book| author = Добрянский Ф. | title = Старая и Новая Вильна | edition = Третье| location = Вильна| publisher = Типография А. Г. Сыркина| pages = 250}}</ref>
==After World War I== The astronomical observatory was revived only after World War I. In Vilnius, then occupied by Poland, a Department of Astronomy was set up at the reopened Vilnius University.<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> Władysław Dziewulski, a prominent Polish astronomer, was appointed as the head of this department. The location of the old observatory was no longer suitable for astronomical observations. Therefore, in 1921 it was decided to build a new observatory. For that purpose a site was allocated on the outskirts of the city near Vingis Park on the present M.K.Čiurlionis street.<ref name="ObservatoryVle"/> The observatory was equipped with two 15 cm Zeiss astrographs and a 48 cm reflector with a spectrograph.
==After World War II== After World War II activities of Lithuanian astronomers resumed at the newly-named Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University. Professor Paulius Slavėnas became the head of the observatory. In 1957–62, several instruments (the 12 cm and 16 cm astrographs, 25 cm and 48 cm reflectors and the slitless Zeiss spectrograph) were restored and renovated. Research of variable stars and photometric observations using the Vilnius multicolour photometric system, created by Vytautas Straižys, began.
After the expansion of Vilnius, accurate astronomical observations became impossible due to air and light pollution in the 1960s. In 1968, the 48 cm telescope was moved to Simeiz Observatory in Crimea where it was in use up to 1973. Later it was moved to Maidanak Observatory in Uzbekistan. In 1974, the 63 cm reflector was put in operation at Molėtai Astronomical Observatory. The observatory became involved in the design and construction of photometric equipment for telescopes, in the study of variable stars, physical and chemical properties of stars, interstellar matter, as well as the structure of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and Triangulum galaxies. In 1960–92, in collaboration with the Institute of Physics and Mathematics, the Astronomical Observatory published the ''Bulletin of the Vilnius Astronomical Observatory''.
==Directors== {|class="wikitable" |- ! Portrait ! Name ! Tenure |- | 100px | Thomas Zebrowski | 1753–1758 |- | | Jakub Nakcjanowicz | 1758–1764 |- | 100px | Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt | 1764–1807 |- | 100px | Jan Śniadecki | 1807–1825 |- | 100px | Piotr Sławinski | 1825–1843 |- | | Michał Hłuszniewicz | 1843–1848 |- | | Georg Albert Fuss | 1848–1854 |- | | Georg Thomas Sabler | 1854–1865 |- | | Matvey Gusev | 1865–1866 |- | 100px | Pyotr Smyslov | 1866–1881 |- | 100px | Władysław Dziewulski | 1922–1940 |- | 100px | Bernardas Kodatis | 1940–1944 |- | | Paulius Slavėnas | 1944–1952 |- | | Borisas Voronkovas | 1952–1956 |- | | Paulius Slavėnas | 1956–1969 |- | | Alfonsas Misiukas-Misiūnas | 1969–1978 |- | | Romualdas Kalytis | 1978–1992 |- | | Jokūbas Sūdžius | 1992–2008 |- | | Vladas Vansevičius | 2008–2017 |}
==See also== * List of Jesuit sites
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Astronomical observatories in Lithuania Category:Vilnius University buildings and structures Category:1753 establishments in Europe Category:University and college astronomical observatories Category:1750s establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth