Brera Astronomical Observatory

The Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera ( OAB) is an astronomical observatory in Milan, Italy, with the IAU code 027 The astronomical coordinates are 45 ° 27 ' 59.2 "North and 0h 36m 45,89 s east of Greenwich.

The observatory in the historic Palazzo di Brera, the original home for the Jesuit College Collegio de Brera in Milan's Brera district, was founded in 1764 by the Jesuit Order of Humiliati. The planning of the observatory was in the hands of the polymath and Jesuit Roger Joseph Boscovitch. 1765 OAB was completed on the south-east wing of the Palazzo. Co-director was the Jesuit Father Louis Lagrange ( 1711-1783 ). In 1772 Boscovich left the OAB. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV, the observatory fell to the state.

From 1802 to 1817 Barnaba Oriani was director of the observatory. He was succeeded as directors Angelo de Cesaris (1749-1832) and Francesco Carlini. 1860 Giovanni Schiaparelli was appointed to the observatory as " secundo Astronomo ". 1861 Schiaparelli discovered on the asteroid Hesperia OAB. After the death of Carlini in 1862 Schiaparelli took over the management of the observatory. In 1877 he succeeded in his time most detailed mapping of the planet Mars.

When the conditions for astronomical observations in Milan's center increasingly deteriorated, the observation operation of the observatory in 1923 was transferred to the province of Lecco after Merate, located around 35 km from Milan. For astrometric purposes in the world length determination in 1933, however, the location was suitable; they gave the value 0h 36m 45.84 s in the system of the FK3.