Beijing Ancient Observatory

Rising from a converted section of Beijing's old Ming dynasty city wall, the Beijing Ancient Observatory has watched the sky above China's capital for nearly six centuries. It is one of the oldest surviving observatories anywhere in the world.

About Beijing Ancient Observatory

The Beijing Ancient Observatory is a pretelescopic observatory now operated as a museum affiliated with the Beijing Planetarium. Its grounds cover roughly 10,000 square metres, centred on a brick tower 15 metres tall topped with a 40-by-40-metre observing platform.

History

Built in 1442 during the Ming dynasty, the observatory was expanded under the Qing and received major upgrades from European Jesuit astronomers after 1644, who supplied more accurate bronze instruments than the originals.

Telescopes & research

Eight large Qing-dynasty bronze instruments still stand on the rooftop platform, including an armillary sphere, celestial globe, azimuth theodolite, quadrant, sextant, and theodolite. Exhibition halls at ground level display further instruments and records documenting the site's centuries of astronomical observation, including the arrival of Western astronomical knowledge.

Location & getting there

The observatory stands in central Beijing, China, easily reached within the city and a popular stop alongside the capital's other historic sites.

Visiting Beijing Ancient Observatory

The museum is typically open from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm and closed one day a week (reported variously as Monday or Tuesday, so it's worth checking ahead). Admission is a modest ticket price, with discounts for students and free entry for seniors and children; weekday mornings tend to be quietest.

See your named star from here

The instruments here were built to track the sky long before telescopes existed, and the coordinates of a star named through Star Register would have made just as much sense to their Ming and Qing dynasty astronomers as to us today. Explore the naming packages or browse the star catalogue.