Constellations still recognised
Names given by Hevelius in the seventeenth century remain official today.
Because he was among the most precise observers before the modern telescope. He drew an atlas of the moon in unprecedented detail, and insisted on naked-eye observation through fine measuring instruments even after telescopes spread, defending its accuracy in a famous dispute with English astronomers. His wife Elisabeth worked alongside him and published his work after his death, and is regarded as among Europe's first women astronomers.
Yes, it is among the best options in Gdańsk with them. The exhibitions are interactive and the site is open to run in, and the view, the cross and the fortifications make the trip itself part of the pleasure. Allow half a day and climb the hill before entering the exhibitions rather than after.
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An interactive science centre inside seventeenth-century military fortifications on Gradowa hill, overlooking Gdańsk from the west. It is named after Johannes Hevelius, the astronomer who lived in Gdańsk in the seventeenth century. A brewer by trade, he built an observatory on his rooftops with his own money and made telescopes, one of them over forty metres long. He drew detailed maps of the moon's surface and gave names still in use, and discovered four comets and several constellations that remain officially recognised today. The centre offers interactive exhibitions on physics, astronomy, energy and the human body, most of them aimed at children and families, inside redesigned tunnels and powder magazines. The site itself is half the pleasure: the fortifications are open to walk, and the hilltop gives a wide view over Gdańsk, the port and the shipyard, crowned by a sixteen-metre millennium cross. Reaching the hill is an uphill walk. Hours are seasonal.
Names given by Hevelius in the seventeenth century remain official today.
The hilltop reveals Gdańsk, the port and the shipyard in one sweep.
Exhibitions on physics, astronomy and the body inside tunnels and magazines.
Gradowa hill, west of central Gdańsk