Ondřejov Observatory

Established in 1906, The Observatory Ondřejov ( Czech Hvězdárna Ondřejov ) belongs to the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

In 1898 the industrialist and amateur astronomer Jan Josef Fric a plot of land on the mountain Manda in Ondřejov, on which he began the construction of an observatory. It took eight years for the land leveled accordingly, the necessary building created and all the instruments were installed. The plans provided by the architect Josef Fanta. On the night of July 31 to August 1, 1906 Fric then led through the first scientific observations of the new observatory. The former observations were performed on a tilting roof with a newly designed Zirkumzenital. In 1928 he gave the waiting of Charles University in Prague. However, it was administered by the State Observatory, and after the establishment of the Institute of Sciences on January 1, 1954 both observatories were merged.

Since 1967, a 2- m- Cassegrain telescope is the main instrument of the observatory. It was developed and built by the former VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. Because of the observation opportunities in primary, Cassegrain and Coude focus, it was referred to as 2- m- PCC telescope.