Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory

Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory [Харківська астрономічна обсерваторія; Kharkivska astronomichna observatoriia]. A research facility of Kharkiv University in Kharkiv. Largely because of the efforts of H. Levytsky, the astronomical cabinet (est 1808) was reorganized in 1888 into an observatory with its own building and proper equipment. The observatory is equipped with a meridian circle, a spectrohelioscope, a 700-mm optical telescope, and other instruments. The chief areas of research are astronometry, the physics of the moon, planets, and solar activity, and optical methods of processing astronomical data. The first photographs of the other side of the moon were processed, and a map and catalogue were prepared, at the observatory. Noted astronomers such as Liudvig Struve, Mykola Yevdokymov, Borys Ostashchenko-Kudriavtsev, and Mykola Barabashov have worked there. (See also Astronomy.)

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]