ESO WELCOMES FINLANDINLAND AS ELEVENTH MEMBER STAATE CATHERINE CESARSKY, ESO DIRECTOR GENERAL n early July, Finland joined ESO as Education and Science, and exchanged which started in June 2002, and were con- the eleventh member state, following preliminary information. I was then invit- ducted satisfactorily through 2003, mak- II the completion of the formal acces- ed to Helsinki and, with Massimo ing possible a visit to Garching on 9 sion procedure. Before this event, howev- Tarenghi, we presented ESO and its scien- February 2004 by the Finnish Minister of er, Finland and ESO had been in contact tific and technological programmes and Education and Science, Ms. Tuula for a long time. Under an agreement with had a meeting with Finnish authorities, Haatainen, to sign the membership agree- Sweden, Finnish astronomers had for setting up the process towards formal ment together with myself. quite a while enjoyed access to the SEST membership. In March 2000, an interna- Before that, in early November 2003, at La Silla. Finland had also been a very tional evaluation panel, established by the ESO participated in the Helsinki Space active participant in ESO’s educational Academy of Finland, recommended Exhibition at the Kaapelitehdas Cultural activities since they began in 1993. It Finland to join ESO “anticipating further Centre with approx. 24,000 visitors. became clear, that science and technology, increase in the world-standing of ESO warmly welcomes the new mem- as well as education, were priority areas Astronomy in Finland”. In February 2002, ber country and its scientific community for the Finnish government. we were invited to hold an information that is renowned for its expertise in many Meanwhile, the optical astronomers in seminar on ESO in Helsinki as a prelude frontline areas. The related opportunities Finland had been engaged in the Nordic towards membership. This we did in May will contribute to strengthening of pio- Optical Telescope at La Palma and a con- 2002 and this time six of us went to neering research with the powerful facili- sensus evolved that full access to ESO Helsinki: in addition to Massimo, I was ties at ESO's observatories, to the benefit would be important for the further devel- accompanied by Ian Corbett, Richard of Astronomy and Astrophysics as well as opment of Finnish astronomy as a whole. Kurz, Claus Madsen and Richard West. European science in general. ESO also Consequently, in September 1999, we The event attracted a great deal of atten- looks forward to collaboration with the were approached informally by a Finnish tion and was very successful. Finnish high-tech industry and further delegation, headed by Mirja Arajärvi, spe- The Finnish Government decided in interaction in the areas of outreach and cial government advisor to the Minister of March 2002 to ask for formal negotiations education. ESO’s stand at the Helsinki Space Exhibition at the Kaapelitehdas Cultural Centre. H. Heyer (ESO) 2 The Messenger 117 AASTRONOMYSTRONOMY ININ FFINLANDINLAND AN OVERVIEW IS GIVEN OF ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH IN FINLAND. THERE ARE THREE INSTITUTES DEVOTED TO ASTRONOMY IN GENERAL, AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF HELSINKI, OULU, AND TURKU, AND A RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY AT THE HELSINKI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY. IN ADDITION, SOLAR SYSTEM RESEARCH WITH SPACE-BORNE INSTRUMENTATION IS BEING CARRIED OUT BY THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF HELSINKI AND TURKU, AND BY THE FINNISH METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE. KALEVI MATTILA1, MERJA TORNIKOSKI2, ILKKA TUOMINEN3, ESKO VALTAOJA4 1OBSERVATORY, UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI; 2METSÄHOVI RADIO OBSERVATORY; 3ASTRONOMY DIVISION, UNIVERSITY OF OULU; 4TUORLA OBSERVATORY INLAND HAS A LONG TRADITION Professor’s chair in 1828, and Argelander international enterprise in Astronomy so far, in Astronomy. The first was appointed its first holder. Based on the photographic “Carte du Ciel” survey, University in Finland, the accurate proper motions from his own started with the participation of Helsinki Academy of Turku (Åbo), was meridian circle observations in Turku and (Anders Donner) and seventeen other lead- founded in 1640, and earlier data from others, Argelander pub- ing observatories around the world. The FAstronomy was taught there from the very lished in 1837 a famous study on the deter- celestial mechanics tradition was continued F th beginning. The first Finnish scientist to rise mination of the Solar Apex. However, with- at the beginning of the 20 century by Karl to world fame was the astronomer and math- in the same year he moved to Bonn where he F. Sundman whose works on the three-body ematician Anders Lexell who was appoint- founded a new observatory and rose to problem brought him international fame. ed Docent of the Academy in 1763. Lexell become one of the leading figures of 19th Later on, research in celestial mechanics and showed that a comet, discovered in 1770, century Astronomy. relativity theory was carried out by Gustaf would, after a passage close to Jupiter in After Argelander, the Observatory par- Järnefelt and Paul Kustaanheimo. Astrophy- 1779 be slung out of the solar system. This ticipated under the leadership of Adalbert sical and Radio Astronomy research were happened as predicted, was a great victory of Krüger, in the big international catalog work introduced at the University of Helsinki by celestial mechanics and Newton’s theory, AGK1 of the Astronomische Gesellschaft. Jaakko Tuominen after World War II. and made Lexell’s name and the comet At the turn of the century the most extensive After a hiatus of a hundred years, astron- famous all over Europe. In 1748 the first dedicated position in Astronomy, Observator, was established, and in 1817-19 an observatory was built, equipped with the best instruments of its time. The observator Henrik Johan Walbeck became known for his study on the size and shape of the Earth. In 1823, the Academy invited, following the advice of Wilhelm Bessel, his pupil Friedrich W. A. Argelander to the Observator position. Argelander’s grandfather, a smith and a descendant of the family of Kauhanen-Argillander from Savo county in eastern Finland, had moved to Prussia where his son became a wealthy merchant. Argelander’s activity at the new observatory was soon to be interrupted by the great fire of Turku. In his observing log- book of the evening of September 4th, 1827, one can read the following classical state- ment by a scientist living in his “ivory tower”: “These observations were interrupt- ed by a terrible fire which put into ashes almost the whole city, but thank the Lord, left the observatory intact.” As a consequence of the fire, the capital of Finland and the University were relocated to Helsinki. There, a new observatory, designed in close collaboration between Argelander and the state architect C. L. Engel, was established in 1834 (Fig. 1). The Figure 1: Helsinki Observatory, established in 1834, belongs to the group of neoclassi- Observator position was upgraded to cal, historical buildings of the centre of the city. © ESO - September 2004 3 Figure 2: The 13.7-metre radio omy returned to Turku in 1924 when Yrjö telescope of the Metsähovi Väisälä, the professor of physics at the Radio Observatory, Helsinki newly founded University of Turku, also University of Technology, is started giving lectures in Astronomy. The enclosed within a 20-metre radome that protects the tele- main interests of Väisälä were classical scope from rain, snow and astronomy, celestial mechanics, and preci- wind. The surface accuracy of sion optics. These traditions were continued the telescope is 0.1 mm (rms). by Liisi Oterma and are still active fields in The observing frequencies avail- able at Metsähovi range from 2 Tuorla Observatory, a separate research to 150 GHz, the lower end institute of the University of Turku, which being used for geodetic VLBI Väisälä founded in 1951. and the higher end for millimetre Astronomy teaching at the University of VLBI. The primary observing fre- Oulu started in the early 1960’s and a profes- quencies, however, are in the mid-range, 22 and 37 GHz. sor’s chair was established in 1964 with Antero Hämeen-Anttila as its first holder. His research traditions in celestial mechan- ics and planetary science are being contin- ued by his pupils both in Oulu and Helsinki. The Metsähovi Radio Observatory, founded in 1975 by Martti Tiuri, then pro- fessor of Radio Technology, is a separate research institute of the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT). It operates a 14m diameter radome-enclosed radio telescope (Fig. 2) in Kylmälä, about 35 km west from the HUT campus in Espoo. PRESENT RESOURCES The present personnel resources of Astronomy in Finland are summarized in Table 1. Besides the four astronomical insti- tutes mentioned above, solar system research is also being carried out by Space Physics groups at the Universities of Helsinki and Turku as well as at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). Particle cos- mology groups are active at the Universities of Helsinki and Turku. In total the Astronomy community in 2003 counted 47 senior researchers (including 6 professors in Senior Post- PhD Technical/ Astronomy and 3 in related fields of Institute staff docs students admin. staff Physics), 28 Post-docs, 46 PhD students, and 32 technical/administrative staff. The Observatory number of PhD degrees awarded was 10. 11 5.5 10 7 University of Helsinki The personnel costs, including salaries and student grants, were 5.9 M€, half of which Tuorla Observatory was covered by soft money from the 16 11 13 4 University of Turku Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, private foundations and similar Division of Astronomy sources. The running costs were 1.2 M€, the 4 7 6 – University of Oulu participation fees in the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT)(29.7% share) and Metsähovi Radio Observatory Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope 4.2 – 1.7 8.4 Helsinki University of Technology (SEST) (5% share until 30.6.2003) were 380 K€.