Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory

On the University of Brasília's Água Limpa farm campus, the Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory brings physics students and researchers together under Brazilian skies, named for the astronomer who first surveyed the land that would become the capital.

About Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory

The observatory is a laboratory of the Institute of Physics at the University of Brasília (UnB), located at the Fazenda Água Limpa in the Park Way administrative region of Brasília, in Brazil's Federal District. It honours Luis Cruls, the astronomer, engineer and geologist who studied the Brasília area in 1892.

History

Construction began in 2004, though completion of the dome was delayed and the observatory was not formally inaugurated until 21 October 2016.

Telescopes & research

The observatory's main instrument is a Meade LX200 10-inch telescope, one of three telescopes on site. It serves physics teaching and supports graduate research, including tracking near-Earth asteroids and comets.

Location & getting there

The site sits at Fazenda Água Limpa in the Park Way region of Brasília, South America, part of the university's teaching and research grounds outside the main urban centre. Use the map on this page for directions.

Visiting Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory

As a university teaching facility, access is generally tied to UnB's academic and outreach activities; check the official website before planning a visit.

See your named star from here

An observatory built for teaching is a natural place to see how star positions work in practice: any set of coordinates, including those of a star you've named with Star Register, can be located with a telescope like the one here. Find your star's coordinates in our catalogue.