What Is the Allegheny Observatory?
The Allegheny Observatory gave us uniform time (EST) and lots of knowledge about Saturn’s rings!
What Makes It Historical?
From its founding on February 15, 1859 until around 1867, the Allegheny Observatory was pretty much a hobby for Professor Lewis Bradley and friends. With the club activities having run their course, members voted to donate the observatory to the Western University of Pennsylvania (now University of Pittsburgh) where it could be used for real research!
Under the direction of Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley, the observatory turned its attention to sunspots and solar heat, then to the motion of stars, which gave an accurate, uniform time, something we now call Eastern Standard Time! That meant companies across the country could subscribe to this time system, which funded more observations, like proving the rings of Saturn are made up of particles!
In the early 1900s, this building was replaced with the current Classical Revival observatory designed by Thorsten E. Billquist in 1912! Today, the main goal of the observatory is to find more planets outside our solar system!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Donate to the University of Pittsburgh!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
159 Riverview Ave,
Pittsburgh, PA 15214
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Tours can be scheduled on their website between April and the end of October.
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