Poltava Gravimetric Observatory

Poltava Gravimetric Observatory [Полтавська гравіметрична обсерваторія; Poltavska hravimetrychna observatoriia]. A research institution founded in Poltava in 1926. Originally it was funded by the Ukrainian Supreme Chamber of Weights and Measures, and conducted studies of the force of gravity in 500 Ukrainian locales. In 1936 it came under the jurisdiction of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and since 1964 it has been part of the Institute of Geophysics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (now of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). The observatory has a staff of over 60 in two departments and a laboratory, who study the earth's rotation and gravity and the physics of its core and mantle. It operates two zenith telescopes, an URAN-2 radio-telescope, an AVR-2 refractor, and a prism astrolabe. The observatory has been directed by Aleksandr Orlov (1926–34, 1939–51), Zinaida Aksenteva (1951–69), and M. Panchenko.

[This article was updated in 2013.]