38 March 2012 sky & telescope

Public Observatories

Public access to telescope viewing in the U.S. and Canada is mainly through amateur groups and college observato-ries. But locating such venues and coordinating with their schedules can be difficult when a family wants to view the Moon or Jupiter on short notice. A recent trip to the Czech Republic showed me (PF) another pathway to the stars.

This small central-European nation has a unique network of 44 municipally financed public observatories. Currently, 24 of these are professionally staffed and offer lecture facilities, exhibit space, and even some planetari-ums. My Massachusetts town has trouble budgeting for a library, so how do small Czech towns manage to fit profes-sional astronomers into their priorities?

The story began in the town of Pardubice, near Prague, where the enlightened local aristocrat Baron Arthur

Kraus founded an observatory in 1912. Its fine 150-mm Merz refractor was used partly for regular solar observa-tions, but its main aim was to provide astronomy instruc-tion for the town’s citizens.

The baron’s enthusiasm encouraged the founding of the Czech Astronomical Society in 1917, and his observa-tory was a start. But the network’s first major element was the Štefánik Observatory on Petřín Hill in Prague, built in 1928. This impressive structure, set in a beautiful park overlooking the capital, has always been a popular attrac-tion for citizens and tourists. More than 33,000 annual visitors enjoy daily viewing of the Sun and nighttime celestial sights through its four main telescopes, which include a pair of co-mounted 200- and 180-mm Zeiss refractors.

A Different Pathway to the

PETER FOUKAL & ŠTE�PÁN KOVÁR�

This page: The public observatory in Vsetín (population about 29,000) was built in 1950. Its main equipment is a pair of co-mounted Zeiss refractors of 200- and 130-mm aperture ( facing page). About 8,000 visitors each year, including many students, attend open nights and talks.

Astronomy outreach could benefit from the Czech approach: city-funded observatories.Stars

EMIL BR�EZINA

SkyandTelescope.com March 2012 39

Another facility was founded in České Budějovice in 1937, which was followed by one in 1938 in the smaller town of Tábor. These early installations provided easy access to the wonders of the night sky for everyone, and they also served as a nucleus for amateur clubs. Between the two World Wars, Czechoslovakia was an industrial-ized democracy and astronomy was recognized as an important element in the education of its citizens.

But most of the observatories were built after World War II. The communist government thought that astron-omy instruction would help combat the Church’s influ-ence. It didn’t, but the idea provided funding that helped build Czech amateur astronomy. After 1948 the number of observatories grew rapidly. Once Sputnik was launched, amateur-astronomer tracking of Soviet satellites provided another funding source.

To achieve success, observatories need to be staffed by competent and enthusiastic personnel. My recent visit during a regular evening viewing session impressed me. Besides our group, two families with small children lis-tened intently in the dark dome as the astronomer on duty showed lovely views of Epsilon Lyrae, M13, and a comet. He explained the separation of the Double Double’s close components, the likelihood of collisions between the globu-lar’s densely packed stars, and the probable origin of the periodic comet. The children asked good questions. This memorable evening cost about $1 per person.

The backgrounds of the observatory staff range from undergraduate astronomy majors to Ph.D. astronomers. So this network provides a significant source of employ-ment for university astronomy graduates. Some amateur programs in turn produce research candidates. One of them, Kamil Hornoch, won the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s 2006 Amateur Achievement Award for his

discoveries of dozens of novae in other galaxies. He’s now a professional astronomer.

In parallel with the public observatory network, Czech amateurs maintain scores of private observatories, many involved in vigorous research programs. For example, the Czech Astronomical Society’s Section on Variable Stars and Exoplanets maintains the international database on exoplanet transit observations. They also account for about 20% of the worldwide observations of such transits. Other Czech amateurs have contributed significantly to studies of the apsidal motion of close binaries.

I (PF) built my own small observatory in a seaside community near Boston, where hundreds of visitors have enjoyed viewing. Examining the Sun, Moon, or plan-ets through an eyepiece provides a sense of drama and immediacy not matched by viewing Hubble images on a computer screen. I have boxes of enthusiastic letters from schoolchildren to prove it. So why are there so few municipal observatories in the U.S.?

The mistaken belief that astronomy is impossible from light-polluted towns is partially to blame. Many do not realize that the best objects for small telescopes can be viewed perfectly well even from downtown Manhattan. Inadequate funding is another often-cited barrier. But many suburban taxpayers accept $50-million price tags for high schools with elaborate athletic facilities.

Would it be unreasonable to build a $49-million high school and set aside $1 million to build and endow the operation of a professionally staffed community observa-tory? It’s a matter of priorities. Czech schools rank well above their American counterparts in international com-parisons of science and math skills. ✦

Peter Foukal is a solar physicist whose publications include cover articles in Nature, Science, and Scientific American. He is currently preparing the third edition of his graduate text Solar Astrophysics. Šte�pán Kovár� is a software and systems engineer with IBM in Prague. He is past president of the Czech Astronomical Society.

High-school students study the Sun with the 150-mm Zeiss coudé refractor at the public observatory in Valašské Mezir�íc�í. The 11 staff members welcomes 26,000 visitors in 2011.

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