From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Uppsala Astronomical Obervatory was founded in 1730, though there was a professorial chair of astronomy at the University of Uppsala from 1593 and the university archives include lecture notes in astronomy from the 1480s.
In the 18th century, Anders Celsius performed his research there and built the first observatory proper in 1741.
In the 19th century Anders Jonas Ångstrom was keeper of the observatory and conducted his experiments in astronomy, physics and optics there. His son, Knut Johan Ångstrom, also conducted research on solar radiation at the observatory.
The observatory recently merged with the Institute of Space Physics to form a Department of Astronomy and Space Physics and moved to the Ångstrom Laboratories. In addition to facilities in Uppsala, the observatory maintains the Kristaburgb Observatory in Sweden and the Uppsala Southern Station at Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatory in Australia.
Research at the observatory over the years includes stellar parallaxes, stellar statistics, galactic structure, external galaxies, stellar atmospheres and solar system research.
