Astronomy
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Astronomical Observatories The science of astronomy has a long tradition at the University of Vienna in Austria. Records show that astronomy has been persued since the middle ages. However, for most of the time the work of the Austrian astronomers was hampered by the lack of suitable telescopes. The largest telescope of the old Vienna Observatory, until the middle of the 19th century located on the roof of the old building of the University near the center of Vienna, had a diameter of only 6 inches. As a consequence astronomers in Vienna turned to other areas of interest; they became specialists in calculating orbits of planets and comets. During the 19th century Austria was a seafaring nation. To support the navigation of her ships at sea, Austria had, as all seafaring nations had to have, a naval observatory. |
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Pola The oldest astronomical observatory in present-day Croatia was established in Pula in 1871 as part of the Hydrographical Institute of the Imperial and Royal Navy. Pola was the "Kriegshafen" (literally: war harbour) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time. Johann Palisa (1848-1925) became the director of the observatory in 1871 or 1872 and held that post until 1880, a position that carried with it the rank of commander. His main area of responsibility was the "time service", i.e. the determination and maintenance of the precise time. While the time service was a necessary and demanding task it is easy to imagine that it was not totally satisfying for a reasearch-oriented person, so Palisa started to observe Minor Planets. Although his working telescope was, at 6 inches of diameter, not any more powerful than the telescope in Vienna, the observing conditions were considerably better. In 1874 he found his first object and named it in honour of the Empire and according to the prevailing naming conventions, (136) Austria (Palisa 1874). During his tenure in Pola, Palisa discovered a total of 28 objects, including the asteroids Polana, Adria and Istria. In 1883 the Croat Baron Ivo Benko of Bojnik (1851-1903) became head of the Pula Observatory. He developed systematic work on the meridian circle and compiled a catalogue of fundamental stars that was completed and published after his death. When Istria came under Italian administration (1918-1943) the astronomical instruments and the library were moved to Trieste, and in 1944 the Anglo-American air force destroyed the building. Today the Istra Amateur Astronomical Society works in the partly renovated northwest Observatory wing. Mali Lošinj The second observatory in present-day Croatia was founded in 1893 on Mali Lošinj by Spiridon Gopcevic (1855-1928) whose pseudonym was Leo Brenner. This one was called Manora Observatory, named after his wife, and was equipped with a 175 mm refracting telescope. Gopcevic tried to observe the "canals" on Mars, and he also watched other planets, especially the rings of Saturn. Brenner Crater on the Moon was named after him. Between 1899 and 1908 he edited and published the popular scientific journal Astronomische Rundschau. In 1909 Gopcevia sold his instruments and closed Manora Observatory because of financial and other difficulties. Sometime in the early 1960s his telescope was bought by Don Nikola Milicevic (1887-1963), the last administrator of Blaca Hermitage on Brac, who had studied astronomy in Vienna. In Blaca he mostly analysed the problems of celestial mechanics, observed double stars, and searched for comets and new stars. |
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In 1993, a new observatory was founded in Mali Lošinj on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the previous observatory by Gopcevic and thereby named the Astronomical Society “Leo Brenner”. This realization was the outcome of years of effort on the part of Valter Martinolic who in 1987 founded an astronomy section in the elementary school in Mali Lošinj. Being the founder, he was also named the first president of the Society. Visnjan
Visnjan Observatory and its projects are carried out by a group of volunteers and participating students. |
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This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran Created: Sunday, December
15, 2002; Last updated:
Saturday, January 23, 2010
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Visnjan Observatory
(pictured left) is situated in the western
part of the Istrian peninsula in the
picturesque city of Visnjan. During the past ten
years, Visnjan became one of the world's most
prolific sites for the discovery small bodies in
the Solar System, finding more than 1400 minor planets with
the observatory's 40 cm telescope. They are currently involved with a new observatory,
Tican (pictured right), which has a 1 m telescope. The Tican site is just 3
km away from Visnjan. 
Apart
from astronomical research, the Visnjan Observatory is involved in
many educational projects that
include physics, biology,
chemistry, ecology, and other fields. They
offer programs in new and
creative methods of teaching
science to young people. Recently, they started a workshop on
science management.