Lisbon Astronomical Observatory
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The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory ( pt, Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa) is an astronomical
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
located in ''Tapada da Ajuda'', in the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of Alcântara,
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
. Recognized internationally for its quality of work in the field of positioning
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
(since the 19th century), in 1992, it became a dependency of the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
(and later, part of the Faculty of Sciences), responsible for scientific and historical research, along with media relations.


History

From an 1812 map, there existed in the ''Alto da Casa Branca'' in the Tapada of Ajuda an older observatory. The observatory was born from great controversy between French astronomer Hervé Faye (1814-1902), then director of the Observatory of Paris, and Peters, an
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
at the Russian Observatory of Pulkova, on the parallax of the star of Argelander. The construction of the Lisbon observatory was due to a strong desire to build an institution that was a reference in Portuguese culture. It was established in the mid-19th century with the aim of promoting new Sidereal Astronomy, discovery and understanding of the infinite
cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
, and concern about the exact mapping of the
sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
and measuring the size of the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
. In 1850, Hervé Faye and
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (russian: link=no, Василий Яковлевич Струве, trans. ''Vasily Yakovlevich Struve''; 15 April 1793 – ) was a Baltic German astronomer and geodesist from the famous Struve family. He is bes ...
(1793-1864) proposed that astronomical observations should be taken in Lisbon, being the first and "unique locale in all of
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
that the zenithal telescope could encounter the marvelous Argelander star". In order to do so, it was necessary to build a new
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
where you could install the appropriate equipment. The
Count of Lavradio Count of Lavradio is a Portuguese title of nobility created twice. The first creation was by King Pedro II of Portugal, by Letters Patent of 16 March 1670, for Luís de Mendonça Furtado e Albuquerque, 1st and only Count of Lavradio. Luís d ...
proposed that the government's chamber of peers should acquire Faye's telescope. The government named a commission, presided by José Feliciano da Silva Costa (1797-1866) and driven by Filipe Folque (1800-1874), to construct a new observatory, since the Royal Military Observatory ( pt, Observatório Real da Marinha) did not have the conditions. In January 1857, King D. Pedro V destined 30 contos de réis to the construction of the observatory and decreed a new commission, managed by Filipe Folque. The commission thought, initially, of constructing the new building in the Prince Royal's garden, then alternately in the Parque Eduardo VII and later the Tapada da Ajuda. The plan of the building, executed by the French architect architects Jean François Gille Colson (1861-1865), José da Costa Sequeira (1800-1872) and Valentim José Correia (1822-1900) (then the most distinguished foreign architect living in Lisbon), was inspired by the building of the Russian Observatory in Pulkova. Wilhelm Struve, then-director at Pulkova offered his services to the Portuguese government and became the main adviser, playing a very important role in the choice of equipment and the orientation of astronomer Frederico Augusto Oom (1830-1890), who was given a rough 5-year training session. Oom, was as a Navy Lieutenant and hydrographic engineer, who eventually became the first director of the Royal Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon and who ultimately had a very important role in the whole foundation of this building. D. Pedro V approved the installation of the astronomic observatory in the Tapada, but its construction started on 11 March 1861, during the reign of King
Luis I Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
. The King also contributed to the fund, withdrawing money from his personal budget for the project. The observatory would have been erected in the ''Alto da Casa Branca'', the locale of the older observatory, but was actually situated in the ''Alto da Eira Velha''. Construction work was completed in 1867 and the first observations began at the site between 1867 and 1869. The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory was formally established by decree on 6 May 1878. Between 1900 and 1901, the observatory participated in the solar parallax campaign, centered on the observations of the asteroid Eros, using a circular meridian measuring instrument to improve the value of the
Astronomical unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au, or or AU) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun and approximately equal to or 8.3 light-minutes. The actual distance from Earth to the Sun varies by about 3% as Earth orbits t ...
. It also contributed to production of a high-quality catalogue of reference stars; the observatory contributed with data and weight to all 3800 observations used in the catalogue. For this work, in 1904, its director César Augusto de Campos Rodrigues (1836-1919), received the
Valz Prize The Valz Prize ''(Prix Valz)'' was awarded by the French Academy of Sciences, from 1877 through 1970, to honor advances in astronomy. History The Valz Prize was established in June 1874 when the widow of astronomer Benjamin Valz, Marie Madeleine J ...
, by the
French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
in Paris. In 1995, the observatory was integrated into the University of Lisbon. The first renovations began in the cupola of the rotational tower in 1999. From May 2004, the investigation project ''Fundamentação de Critérios para a Musealização do Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa'', financed by FCT (POCTI/HAR/48711/2002) and under the University of Lisbon's Faculty of Sciences and UTL's Faculty of Architecture.


Architecture

The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory consists of a central building in the hills of Ajuda and overlooking the
Tejo Tejo may refer to: *Tagus (Portuguese: ''Tejo''), a river on the Iberian Peninsula. * Tejo (sport), a sport and national pastime of Colombia. * Tejo (Argentina), a sport and national pastime of Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argen ...
river, and two small cupolas in the south containing instruments. Besides the central
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
there are three rooms for astronomical observations, equipped with instruments (the best for the time) and windows for observation. The central block of the observatory (a circular room) supports the weight of the large equatorial refractor over 8 large columns. In arches between the columns are many
pendulum clock A pendulum clock is a clock that uses a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its timekeeping element. The advantage of a pendulum for timekeeping is that it is a harmonic oscillator: It swings back and forth in a precise time interval dependent on it ...
used over the century to measure the time. At the foot of the large windows (with a view over the Tapada da Ajuda) are wide tables, used by astronomers to assist in their research/investigation. In addition, there are spacious halls linking the central block, used for lessons, taking measurements and research, today used as workshops and support school educational activities. The three observation rooms are spacious and high, lined in wood, with open space between the wainscoting and the walls of masonry and roofing. This space communicates with the outside world through gaps that are constantly open. There are roofs of rooms in stacks of circulation, and this permanent ventilation is there in order to establish the balance of air
temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...
in the rooms and beyond, as it is convenient to the accuracy of observations. The wooden wainscoting providing thermal insulation, apart from being a 100% ecological product, which provides the user with a friendlier environment compared to other substitute materials. The rooms provide openings in the lateral walls and in the ceiling, through doors, thanks to an ingenious mechanism. Once the doors open once they give you an insight to the sky, according to the
meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...
of Lisbon, from north to south.


References


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External links


Library, Archives and Historical DocumentsGuided toursScientific officeAstronomical Observatory of Lisbon (AOL)
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Lisbon University of Lisbon Science and technology in Portugal Astronomical observatories in Portugal Museums in Lisbon History of science museums Science museums in Portugal University museums