Tomsk State University Observatory

Tomsk State University Observatory has served as an astronomical teaching and research site in Tomsk, Russia, since 1923, blending historic instruments with a long record of public engagement.

About Tomsk State University Observatory

The observatory was founded in 1923 at Tomsk State University, established after the university's Department of Astronomy and Geodesy was set up within the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

History

Since the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch in 1957, the observatory has maintained a satellite observation station, regularly tracking Earth satellites as part of what has grown into the wider Tomsk Space Observing System, which also includes Schumann resonance monitoring. More recently, the observatory installed a working replica of Galileo's telescope, offering roughly 60x magnification — about double the magnification of Galileo's original 30x instrument.

Telescopes & research

The observatory's primary instrument is a 13cm refracting telescope with a 2-metre focal length and 200x magnification, capable of showing Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as bright star clusters, comets, and asteroids.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits at 137 metres elevation in Tomsk, Russia (about 56.47°N, 84.95°E), on the campus of Tomsk State University in Western Siberia.

Visiting Tomsk State University Observatory

The observatory has hosted public viewing sessions and reopened notably after periods of closure, including a widely reported reopening following a seven-year hiatus. Check the university's current schedule or official channels before visiting.

See your named star from here

With a working refractor able to resolve planets and star clusters, staff or visiting stargazers at Tomsk could point the telescope toward the exact coordinates of a named star. Browse our star-naming packages or the full star catalogue to find yours.