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National Observatory of Athens - The oldest research center in Greece |
The Observatory of Athens was founded in 1842 with a donation from the
national benefactor George Sinas. The astronomical observations started in
September 1846, after the completion of the central neoclassical building on
the hill of Nymphs at Thiseio area, facing the Acropolis.
In 1890 the Observatory was reorganized as a governmental research center with the name National Observatory of Athens, and was expanded with the addition to the Astronomical Department
of two new, the Meteorological and the Seismological. In 1942 the Departments were named Institutes and in 1955
the Ionosphere Institute, was added.
In 1999 the names of the institutes of NOA were updated, as follows:
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development
Institute of Geodynamics
Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing
In 2003 the Institute of Astroparticle Physics "NESTOR"
became the fifth institute of NOA |
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Some facts from the history |
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The first telescope of the Observatory was a 16cm refractor Ploessl. It was installed in 1846 in the Sinas building. |
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The first big telescope, 40cm refractor Doridis, was installed in 1902, in a new dome not far from the Sinas building. |
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The Newall telescope, a 62.5cm refractor, is the next large telescope. It was installed in 1959, in a new site of NOA, the AS Penteli, Athens. |
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A new telescope, 1.2m Cassegrain reflector, was installed in 1975 in a remote site, the AS Kryoneri, about 110km westward from Athens. |
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