Istanbul observatory of al-Din
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The Istanbul observatory of al-Din was one of the greatest astronomical observatories ever built in the Islamic world. Sadly, it only existed for a mere two years before it was destroyed.
In 1574, Murad III became the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The empire's chief astronomer, Taqi al-Din, petitioned the Sultan to finance the building of a great observatory to rival those in Europe, specifically the one used by Tycho Brahe. The Sultan approved, and construction was completed in 1577.
This observatory consisted of two large structures perched on a hill overlooking the European section of Istanbul and offering a wide view of the night sky. Much like a modern institution, the main building was reserved for the library and the living quarters of the staff, while the smaller building housed a collection of instruments built by al-Din. These included a giant armillary sphere and a clock for measuring the position and speed of the planets. With these instruments, al-Din had hoped to update the old astronomical tables describing the motion of the planets, sun, and moon.
Within months of the observatory's completion, however, al-Din witnessed a comet and, thinking the comet was an omen, predicted an Ottoman military victory. This prediction was incorrect, and because of this the Sultan decided to destroy the observatory. It was razed in 1580.
[edit] Further reading
- David A. King, Taki al-Din in EI (2nd ed.), vol. 10, pp. 132-3
- Ahmad Y Hassan, Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechanical Engineering, Instiute for the History of Arabic Science, Aleppo University, 1976, pp. 34-35.
- Antoine Gautier, L'âge d'or de l'astronomie ottomane, in L'Astronomie, (Monthly magazine created by Camille Flammarion in 1882), december 2005, volume 119.
