Figure 17.1: Bucharest Observatory

Figure 17.1: Bucharest Observatory 164 17. Considering Heritage as Part of Astronomy – 100 Years of Bucharest Observatory Magda Stavinschi and Catalin Mosoia (Bucharest, Romania) Abstract Somewhat later, at the beginning of the 6th century, the Christian Church tried to establish a chronology as Anytime we are considering science’s perspectives, thus as- adequate as possible for the religious celebrations, of tronomy, we have to go into the past for better knowing the Easter in particular, set up in keeping with various as- observer’s traditions or of the group in which we are working tronomical moments. Its author was Dionisie the Small to see which are the main directions that can be continued (Dionysius Exiguus), a monk born in the territory of or, on the contrary, what is already old and where should we Dobruja (Dobrogea). In 528 A.D. he introduced in Liber go. de Paschal the counting of the years since the birth of Astronomical experience in Romania is not an exception. Jesus Christ. There is evidence that proofs interests in knowing the sky of the local population – Sarmizegetusa Sanctuary, for two millennium and others more recently. 17.2 The Middle Ages and Early This year, the most important Astronomical Observatory from Romania is celebrating its 100 anniversary. Built in Modern Time Bucharest by the first Romanian mathematicians at Sor- bonne, it is nowadays nucleus of the Astronomical Institute The centuries which followed led to the considerable of the Romanian Academy. development of astronomical knowledge, but its truly th th Marking the most important achievements in space research, scientific foundation dates back only to the 16 and 17 in the last century but also those older, represents for the centuries, that is why 2009 is the International Year of researchers and especially for the public an incentive for the Astronomy. advancement of astronomy in Romania. It happens that In the period preceding Galilei there were various as- 2008, declared in our country the Romanian Astronomical tronomical preoccupations on these lands, too. It is Year, precedes the International Year of Astronomy. These worth mentioning, for instance, the first astronomical two events brought together is favourable for education and observations made in this part of Europe by the bishop information, and proves that, regardless of time, man can live Ioan Vitez (János Vitez) (1408–1472), the teacher of increasingly better in a Universe that is increasingly knowing prince Iancu of Hunedoara’s children. The Observatory more profound. in Oradea, an important centre of renaissance culture in that period, was created by Ioan Vitez in 1445, namely one century before the one set up at Uraniborg by Tycho Brahe. 17.1 Beginnings A century later, Johannes Grass (Honterus) published notions of cosmography in Rudimenta Cosmographica Although we have very old testimonies of its existence (1568). The work had an important impact at the time, on our lands, we can talk about Romanian scientific being issued in 26 successive editions, which were used observatories only beginning with the last century. We for a long time in Germany as astronomy textbooks. have in mind the Observatory in the Charles I Park in We should also mention Conrad Haas (1509–1579) Bucharest and the one on the right bank of the river who wrote a book, kept in the Sibiu public records, in Dniester (Nistru), at Dubasarii Vechi, today in the Re- which he describes rockets in stages and uses this term public of Moldavia (Moldova). for the first time. We can talk of astronomical traditions on our terri- The 16th and 17th centuries are epochs of important tories even beginning with the first millennium, when spreading of astronomical knowledge in the ever more the Dacians built in the Meridional Carpathians, at numerous colleges which were set up in Transylvania, Gradistea Muncelului, a sanctuary which still preserves Moldavia and Wallachia. evidence of their astronomical knowledge and implicitly, From among the teachers of the epoch we shall men- of an extremely precise calendar for those times. tion only the name of Hrisant Notara, who was a collab- 165 Figure 17.2: Sarmizegetusa sanctuary orator of Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712), the 157 mm and was later used by students in their practical first director of Paris Observatory, set up in 1667. He left studies. This telescope was handed down by his heirs to us Introductio ad geographiam et sphaeram (published the Observatory in Jassy. in Paris, 1716), the first scientific work with chapters During the period 1828–1832 astronomic observa- dedicated to astronomy, where coordinates of Romanian tions for the determination of different geographical co- cities are calculated. ordinates were performed. Ortemberg, Wrontchenko The other observatories were built in Transylvania and others determined the coordinates of the Ro- during the 18th century. Thus, the construction of manian towns of Jassy, Galaţi, Roman, Bucharest, the astronomical tower conducted by Maximilian Hell Călăraşi, Turnu-Măgurele, Calafat, Craiova, Babadag, (1720–1790) was completed in 1759. The tower was Constanţa, Gurile Dunării. destroyed by a fire in 1798 and restored in 1805. Together with the development of the elementary and The second observatory was set up in 1795 at Alba secondary educational systems, the first astronomy text- Iulia by the bishop Ignatius Batthyány – who founded books were issued, such as those by Gheorghe Asachi the famous library that was to be called after his name. (1838), A. Marian (1829 – the first astronomy texbook The Observatory ended its activity in 1860. written in Romanian) and August Treboniu Laurian Meanwhile, astronomy also developed in the land (1859). across the Carpathians. Thus, in 1762, the Jesuit At the middle of the 19th century there were profound Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich, one of the greatest as- transformations not only in Europe, but also on the Ro- tronomers of that time and founder of the Brera-Milan manian lands. In 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia united astronomical Observatoy, performed determinations of and thus the first modern Romanian state was created. longitudes and latitudes, as well as other astronomical This fact called for not only a reform of the political and studies at Galati. social life, but also one of education, directed to Western In 1773 the Russian astronomer Stephen Rumowski culture, to the French one in particular. published Determinatio Longitudinis et Latitudinis The foundation of the first Romanian universities quorundam Moldaviae et Wallachiae locorum deducta (Jassy, in 1860 and Bucharest, in 1864) marked the ex Observationibus Johanne Islenieff institutis, a work beginning of academic instruction. The first professor of which he elaborated on the basis of the astronomical astronomy was Neculai Culianu (1832–1915) in Jassy. In determination of the geographical coordinates for Ben- December 9, 1874, together with Professor Stefan Micle der, Akerman, Chilia Nouă, Ismail, Bucharest, Focşani, (1820–1879), he observed the transit of the planet Venus Jassy and Brăila, carried out by the Russian astronomer across the Sun’s disk. The poor facilities available did Ivan Isleniev. not allow then the obtaining of good results such as those reported by Theodor von Oppolzer and Edmund 17.3 The 19th Century Weiss, whose observations performed in Jassy proved to be even more accurate than the similar ones carried out At the beginning of the 19th century, the first amateur in Vienna. Dimitrie Petrescu (1831–1896) was the first astronomer was recorded again in Moldavia. In 1823, astronomy professor who delivered lectures at Bucharest the poet Costache Conachi bought a telescope in Vi- University, where he was followed by Nicolae enna, which had a focal distance of 2 m and a diameter of Coculescu. 166 Figure 17.3: Hrisant Notara: Introductio ad geographiam et sphaeram (Paris 1716) 167 Figure 17.4: Bucharest Astronomical Observatory Due to the development of astronomical academic four Romanian scientists who took their doctor’s degrees education a large number of young students were sent in mathematics at Sorbonne, in Paris, three devoted abroad to improve their training in astronomy. It is their theses to celestial mechanics. worth mentioning especially Constantin Căpităneanu Spiru Haret (1851–1912) dedicated his doctoral thesis (1849–1895). After performing another training stage in (1878) to the study of the invariability of the major Naples, he returned home (1873), were he was assigned axes of planetary orbits. Felix Tisserand, professor of a task of high responsibility, i. e., to draw up an accurate celestial mechanics at the Sorbonne, later resumed this map of the country. study and reached the same conclusions and even rec- A telescope (field glass) for latitudes, two refracting ommended that young Haret’s methods be extended to telescopes, a chronograph, chronometers etc. were or- other astronomic calculations. dered for this purpose. These facilities helped him to At the same time, the well-known French mathemati- construct in Jassy (1875) the first meridian dome on cian Henri Poincaré highly appreciated Haret’s thesis, the Romanian territory. Seven years later a similar hall concluding that is was a “great surprise”. The same sub- was also erected in Bucharest. In 1881 Căpităneanu ject was resumed in 1955 by Jean Meffroy. Therefore, and Kihnert published in Bucharest A Determination of Spiru Haret can be considered as the first Romanian the longitudinal differences between Jassy and Cernăuţi. astronomical theorist. This was the first publication of astronomical observa- In 1882 another Romanian got his PhD in Paris, tions carried out by a Romanian scientist in his own namely Constantin Gogu (1854–1897), who concen- country. trated on long-periodic inequalities in the Moon’s orbital motion, confirming the accuracy of Delaunay’s calculations against Stockwell’s errors. The third Romanian doctor in astronomy from the Sorbonne was Nicolae Coculescu (1866–1952) who gave 17.4 The First Doctoral Theses in a description of the interrelated movements of the three bodies for a particular case.

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