Leiden Observatory

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The second building to house the Leiden Observatory (built in 1860). This building now houses part of the biology department. Two of the optical telescope domes can be seen on the roof.

Leiden Observatory (Sterrewacht Leiden in Dutch) is an astronomical observatory in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands. It was established by Leiden University in 1633, to house the quadrant of Snellius, and is the oldest operating University observatory in the world (before this, astronomy taught at medieval universities tended to be of a more theoretical nature, and any observations were usually done with private equipment rather than at University observatories —see this timeline).

The old observatory building no longer houses the astronomy department as this has twice moved to new premises. In 1860 Leiden Observatory moved to the Witte Singel, and in 1974 it moved to the North-West of the city centre. The astronomy department ([Sterrewacht Leiden]) is the largest in the Netherlands and is internationally renowned, performing research in a wide range of astronomical disciplines.

A number of prominent astronomers and physicists have done work at Leiden Observatory, including Willem de Sitter, Ejnar Hertzsprung, and Jan Oort, all of whom have served as Directors. Another famous employee was Jacobus Kapteyn.

One of the buildings which currently houses the observatory

External links

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