The historic telescope
Under the dome.
Máximo E. Calderón — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museo del Observatorio Astronómico de la UNC — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Javitolez — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museo del Observatorio Astronómico de la UNC — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Córdoba Astronomical Observatory is one of the oldest in South America, opened on 24 October 1871 at the initiative of President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who invited the American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould and his assistants to study the southern sky. Before his instruments arrived from Europe, Gould began mapping the southern sky by eye and with opera glasses; by opening day the map held more than seven thousand stars, published in 1877 as the «Uranometría Argentina». The observatory now belongs to the National University of Córdoba. Its historic headquarters house a museum of old astronomical instruments, including a large refracting telescope under a dome, telling the story of charting the southern sky. On open evenings visitors look at the Moon, planets and stars through the telescope when skies are clear. Night visits to the headquarters are free with no booking, on Friday and Saturday evenings. The observatory has a second station in the Bosque Alegre hills, visited for a fee.
Under the dome.
Seven thousand stars.
On open evenings.
Laprida 854, Córdoba city
Yes, night visits to the headquarters are free with no booking on Fridays and Saturdays, with telescope viewing in clear weather.
