Vasily Struve (1793–1864)

The collection, timed to the 225th birth anniversary of an outstanding Russian astronomer of German descent, a member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the founder and the first director of the Pulkovo Observatory, includes archival materials and scientific research on the life and scientific work of Vasily Yakovlevich Struve and his family.

Vasily Yakovlevich Struve (name at birth Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve) in 1818-1839 was the director of the Dorpat Astronomical Observatory. In 1839-1862 he headed the Pulkovo Observatory, the creation and equipment of which was held under his leadership.

With the participation of V. Y. Struve, a gradual measurement of the arc of the meridian from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the mouth of the Danube was arranged, as well as valuable materials were obtained for determining the shape and dimensions of the Earth. The results of long-term geodetic work were outlined in the two-volume work "The arc of the meridian at 25°20' between the Danube and the Arctic Sea", published in 1856-1861. V. Y. Struve defined the system of astronomical constants, which has been used for 50 years. Struve also made a great contribution to the study of binary stars. In particular, he compiled two catalogs of binary stars in 1827 and 1852. In the famous work "Etudes of Stellar Astronomy" (1847), the scientist first substantiated the methods of stellar statistics, within the framework of which the density of the stars distribution is studied and their classification according to brightness and visible movements is carried out. In the last years of his life, V. Y. Struve participated in the creation of the Astronomical Observatory in Lisbon.