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Observatories and Instruments

Argentine National Observatory

Ground-Based Optical Observatories

Argentina's national astronomical observatory in the city of Córdoba, founded on 24 October 1871 by President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento together with the American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould, whom Sarmiento had met while serving as Argentina's representative in the United States. On the night of its inauguration, Gould began mapping the southern sky by eye and with small binoculars, ultimately recording more than 7,000 stars in his star atlas Uranometria Argentina.

Facts
Observatory Type
national astronomical observatory 1
Location
Córdoba Province, Argentina 1
Operational
from 1871 1
Measures
cataloged more than 7,000 southern stars, published as the Uranometria Argentina 1
Operating Principle
used the 61 inch Great Reflector, a reflecting telescope 1
Classification
Observing Band
Optical / Visible 1
FAQs

Why is the Argentine National Observatory also called the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba?

It is the same observatory; it took the Córdoba name when it passed to the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

The institution opened in 1871 as the Observatorio Nacional Argentino. It was later placed under the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba by decree, and at that point it took the name Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Both names refer to the same observatory in Córdoba.

What did the observatory publish from its first star photographs?

It published Fotografías Cordobesas in 1896.

In the late nineteenth century the observatory took its first stellar photographs with the Gran Ecuatorial telescope. This work led to Fotografías Cordobesas, published in 1896, which recorded 1,400 photographic plates of different astronomical objects.
In the Other Atlases

Located In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Argentine National Observatory
  • Lead section, institution clause
    The Argentine National Observatory, today the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba, was founded on 24 October 1871
  • Infobox, location field
    Córdoba Province, Argentina
  • Lead section, date clause
    The Argentine National Observatory, today the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba, was founded on 24 October 1871
  • History section, Gould paragraph
    Gould began with the naked eye, and later with the aid of small binoculars, a map of the southern sky, recording more than 7000 stars, which was published under the name of Uranometria Argentina
  • Instruments section, Great Reflector sentence
    The 61-inch (1.54-meter) Great Reflector was the concept of the director of the Argentine National Observatory, Charles Dillon Perrine
  • History section, photography sentence
    The first stellar photographs in the world, hundreds of sheets of open star clusters, were taken at this observatory.
  • In Group: Optical Observatories of the Americas, Lead: identity and country
    The Argentine National Observatory, today the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba, was founded on 24 October 1871, by Argentine president Domingo F. Sarmiento and the North American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould. == History == Its creation was the beginning of astronomical studies in Argentina.
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