The Stefanik Observatory was built to make astronomy popular among public – so when you visit it, you can observe the sky there. When the weather is suitable, you can observe the Sun during the day, the Moon during the night and also some stars, planets and even galaxies and nebulae. You can find the Stefanik Observatory in the centre of Prague, in the Petrin park.
The Stefanik Observatory was built by Czech astronomical institute in 1928. It bears the name of the important general and diplomat Milan Rastislav Stefanik, who was also an astronomer.
Precious astrograph in the Stefanik Observatory
Soon after it was founded, the observatory obtained a precious double Zeiss astrograph from 1907, formerly used by the Viennese astronomer Rudolf König. Even the first president of Czechoslovakia T. G. Masaryk contributed money for buying the astrograph. It was a modern equipment at the time and it is still used in the main copula of the Stefanik Observatory.
The observatory was so largely damaged during the World War II., that building a new was considered. Finally, the building was restored in 1970s.
Come to observe the sky
There is a modern Meade refractor nowadays, as well as a Maksutov – Cassegrain astrograph from 1976. You can see the astronomical exhibition in the observatory, all the telescopes and domes. An expert commentary is provided to the observation and English-speaking employees are available to help the visitors.
The Petrin park with the Stefanik Observatory is situated on a hill in the center of Prague and it is accessible by a funicular or on foot.
