Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory

Nikolaev Observatory (full name is Research Institute “Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory”, Ukrainian: Науково-дослідницький інститут «Миколаївська астрономічна обсерваторія») is an astronomical observatory in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory was founded in 1821 by Admiral Aleksey Samuilovich Greig (1775–1845) as a Naval Observatory to ensure the Black Sea Fleet with time, nautical charts and teaching naval officers to utilize astronomical methods of orientation. The top of the Spassky hill, the city of Nikolaev’s highest hill (52M), was chosen as the construction site for the observatory. The designer of the main building project was Fyodor Ivanovich Wunsch (1770–1836), who was also the main architect of the Black Sea Admiralty. Karl Frederick Knorre was appointed to the position of first director on the recommendation of Vasiliy Yakovlevich Struve (1801–1883). In addition to his work in the preparation of naval officers, K. Knorre began the scientific astronomical research. In the history of astronomy he is known as the author of the Berlin Academy of Science’s 5th sheet of the star map, by the help of which the minor planets Astrea and Flora were discovered. K. Knorre held the position of director of the Observatory for 50 years. The second director Ivan Y. Kortatstsi (1837–1903) continued the astronomical research at the Observatory, cataloging the position of stars later named the “Nikolaev Zone”. In the marine period of the observatory, K.H. Knorre and I.E. Kortatstsi carried out hydrographic survey works on the Azov, Black and Marmara Seas. They conducted an inventory of, and more precise identification of geographical coordinates of many control points on these sea maps. The fleet was equipped with precision instruments and perfected methods of determining the time (longitude) and latitude.

Until [1911] the Observatory belonged to the Navy Ministry, and from 1912 to 1991 NAO became the southern branch of the Pulkovo Observatory. The main objective of the Observatory at that time was the spread of the Pulkovo absolute star catalogs to the southern sky and the implementation of regular observations of the Sun and Solar system bodies. To equip the new department the Repsold Vertical Circle and the passage instrument (Freiberg-Kondratiev) were moved from Odessa. The Observatory managed to survive and was preserved as a scientific institution during a period of great distress in our society: the First World War, the Revolution and then Civil War. Boris Pavlovich Ostaschenko-Kudryavtsev (1879–1956) was the director at that times. The Renaissance of the Observatory after the ordeal is associated with the name of the fourth director Leonid Ivanovich Semenov (1878–1965), who headed the Observatory in [1923]. In [1931], the highly accurate Time Service was created by NAO, which contributed to national and international programs to determine the exact time. In 1935 the observatory was included in the system of institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR as a branch of the Pulkovo. During the Great Patriotic War from August 1941 to March 1944 the observatory was occupied by the Germans. Director L.I. Semenov managed to keep it from serious injury and destruction.

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