The Astronomical Observatory of Brera (OAB) is one of the top level research institutes in the world and it is the most ancient scientific institution in Milan. In 1946 it became part of the scientific institutions of the new born Italian Republic and since 2001 it has become part of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).
The OAB was founded in 1764 by Luigi La Grange and Giuseppe Ruggiero Boscovich and since then it is located in the Palazzo Brera, in Milan. A second site, located at Villa San Rocco in Merate, Brianza, present since 1923 but active instrumentally since the end of 1926 – arrival of the first telescope in 1926 and first observation on 20 September 1926 – with inauguration on 30 May 1927.
We like to remember as main directors in our history Barnaba Oriani, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli and Giovanni Celoria. The OAB has been the workplace of lots of astronomers, one of them is the famous Margherita Hack, that worked in Merate from 1954 to 1964, when became full professor of the Institute of Physics of the Trieste University.
The Director, since January First 2021, is Roberto Della Ceca.
On Wednesday 7, 2012 a cerimony for the Civic Merit – Gold medal “Ambrogino d’Oro” – to our Institute by the city of Milano (read on Media Inaf). The same award in the 2011 by the city of Merate.
The two sites
To know more about guided visits in OAB go to the web page guided visits by POE.
Milan
In the entrance corridor there is the Museo Astronomico di Brera.
In the historical site of the Brera Astronomical Observatory (OAB) in Milano there is the precious historical archive, an ancient library with more than 30000 books and a modern library with more than a thousand books.
Two completely renewed domes, the Zagar dome and the Schiaperelli dome, are devoted to public conferences, press conferences, workshops, public visits and didactical laboratories.
Merate
The site in Merate are provided with two historical domes open to the public for nighttime observations and to the schools for diurnal and nighttime guided visits and a multimedia room for public lectures, press conferences, conferences and didactic laboratories.
On January 31, 2024 the multimedia room was dedicated to our colleague Tomaso M. Belloni who passed away unexpectedly on August 26, 2023. Moreover, in Merate there is a library of more than 6000 books and related subjects mostly of the twentieth century.
Staff and research
The OAB staff counts more than a hundred people, divided in research staff, tecnical-scientific staff, administrative staff and short-term staff. In addition to these, there are approximately 70 people including students (undergraduate and PhD), PostDocs and retired INAF associates who come to the Observatory with a certain regularity.
The research area of the astronomers of the OAB span a large range of fieldfrom extrasolar planets to black holes (both stellar-mass and supermassive) and galaxies, from gamma-ray bursts to cosmology. The main projects are collaborations with national and international institutes.
The OAB is active also in the tecnological research applied to the astronomical instrumentation and it is one of the world leaders in the developement of X-ray astronomy optics and, more in general, of instrumentation for ground-based telescopes as well as for space missions.
Moreover, in the headquarters in Merate there is data analysis center of the Swift satellite.
Outreach
The OAB is one of the first italian research institutes that, since 1999, are provided with staff specialized in science communication.
In both sites there is professional staff that not only organize visits to the institute for the public and the schools, but also organize didactic laboratories and expositions also in collaboration with the advice of teachers and experts of the specific fields.
To find out more about the events organized by the OAB go to the website POEfactory by our POE office (Public Outreach & Education).
