The brief history of the Astronomical Institute: 1899 – 1999
(Based on the work of Lajos Balázs about the centennial of the Institute in 1999)
In the 1860s a
revolutionary transformation took place in astronomy with the birth of astrophysics through the incorporation of spectral analysis, discovered by Kirchoff and Bunsen. Prior to this, astronomy was closely related to mathematics through celestial mechanics, geodesy and cartography. At that time there was no astronomical observatory in Hungary where scientific research could be carried out. The Gellérthegy Observatory was destroyed in 1849 during the siege of Buda in the 1848-49 revolution, as well as Károly Nagy's state-of-the-art, modern institute in Bicske. Miklós Konkoly Thege, a wealthy nobleman from the “Highlands” (today’s Slovakia), was born in 1842 and studied physics with Ányos Jedlik at Péter Pázmány University in Pest, then physics and astronomy in Berlin, where Encke was his master. He graduated in 1863 and subsequently made a grand tour of Europe where he became familiar with laboratory spectroscopy. After returning home, he was employed in the state administration. In 1871 he started regular observations on his Ógyalla property with a 4" telescope and a meridian circle. The sunspot observations began in 1872, and from then on they took place regularly. In 1874, the observatory got a new building housing a Browning 10.5" reflecting telescope. Spectroscopic observation of comets began in this year, followed by meteors a year later. It was a very important result that the spectroscopic results highlighted the relationship between comets and meteors. Konkoly Thege participated in international research campaigns of comprehensive characterisation of bright stars. He also recognized the importance of international relations: he traveled frequently abroad, famous foreign astronomers often visited his institute, and he was a member of several international associations. In 1890 Konkoly Thege was appointed to be the director of the Hungarian Meteorological Service. He formally retained the administration of the institute in Ógyalla, but devoted a significant part of his time to his new position. With the time passing he recognized that his private observatory cannot be long maintained without external help and he offered his Ógyalla observatory to the Hungarian state, with the agreement officially signed on May 16, 1899. At that time the main topics of the observatory were stellar photometry and regular observations of the Sun. Konkoly Thege died in 1916.
In 1918, after World War 1, all territories of Hungary North of the river Danube became part of the newly forged country of Czechoslovakia, including Ógyalla. The observatory – with all its instruments -- was moved to Budapest. Construction of the new site started in 1921 at Svábhegy (Swabian Hill) but could be completed only by 1928 due to financial difficulties. In the same year the 60cm (24”) Heyde telescope was put into operation. This telescope was originally ordered in 1913, but not delivered due to the war. In addition to the research programs performed previously in Ógyalla, observation of small Solar system bodies started.
The observatory and its instruments survived World War 2 with relatively small losses. In 1946 a Solar Physics Department was created, with regular photographic observations and a significant emphasis on sunspot statistics. Around that the time photometric monitoring of variable stars became the main topic of the observatory. The new political system from 1948 made fundamental changes in the administrative framework of science by separating research from universities and created a network of academic institutes. In this framework the observatory was integrated in the research network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences the from 1951. On January 1, 1958, the Solar Physics Department began operating as an independent institute in Debrecen. For the observations, the instruments brought from Budapest were put into operation: the Konkoly 10" refractor with 5" and 6” photoheliographs – the latter was moved in 1972 to an observation station on the water tower in Gyula. From the late 1950’s the observatory also coordinated the work of several satellite tracking stations in the countryside including the one in Baja which later officially joined the observatory.
The political changes in the 1950s also opened the possibility of significant investments in research infrastructure, including the decision on the construction of a new observing site at Piszkéstető, in the Mátra mountains at the North of Hungary. The first telescope was the 60/90/180 cm Schmidt telescope which started operations in 1962, followed by the 50 cm Cassegrain telescope in 1967 and by the 1m Ritchey–Chrétien-Cassegrain telescope in 1974. With the opening of the Piszkéstető Mountain Station the size of the technical and research staff has significantly increased.
In 1982 Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, and the Heliospheric Observatory in Debrecen were re-merged to form the „Research Institute for Astronomy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences". After the change in the political system in 1990 financial problems led to the separation of the Baja station. While the previous relations with former Soviet-bloc countries significantly reduced this opened the opportunity of new connections with Western-European and US institutes.