Leiden Observatory 3.46

Leiden Observatory is an astronomical observatory in the city of Leiden, the Netherlands. It was established by Leiden University in 1633, to house the quadrant of Rudolph Snellius, making it the oldest operating university observatory in the world, with the only older still existing observatory being the Vatican Observatory.The observatory was originally located on the university building in the centre of Leiden before a new observatory building and dome were constructed in the university's botanical garden in 1860. It remained there until 1974 when the department moved to the science campus north-west of the city.A number of notable astronomers have worked or directed the observatory including Willem de Sitter, Ejnar Hertzsprung, and Jan Oort.History1633-1860Leiden University established the observatory in 1633; astronomy had been on the curriculum for a long time and due to possession of a large quadrant built by Rudolph Snellius, Jacobus Golius requested an observatory in which to use it. The observatory was one of the first purpose-built observatories in Europe. Though Golius used the observatory regularly, no publications came from its use by him. It is not known whether Golius had any instrumentation other than Snellius' quadrant at the observatory.