The Role of the Central (Pulkovo) Observatory in Southern Hemisphere Star Observations

Abstract

The Nicholas Central Astronomical Observatory in Pulkovo, near Saint-Petersburg, was inaugurated as Russia's principal astronomical institution on 19 (7) August 1839. Construction of the observatory had begun in 1834 following the edict of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, who had invited as his adviser Professor Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, the Director of the Dorpat Observatory. Emperor Nicholas I appointed Wilhelm Struve as the Director of the new observatory. With regard to funding, the emperor had given Struve a carte blanche to enable him to order from German telescope makers the best astrometric instruments designed according to Struve's own ideas. Hence Wilhelm Struve is to be considered as the co-founder of Pulkovo Observatory.