Observatory at the Crossroads

While the whole world is striving for the stars, we are building “Planetograd”.

Californian astronomers have calculated with high probability that there is a new planet beyond Neptune, the ninth in the solar system. Now it has to be detected visually. Astronomers at the Pulkovo Observatory will most likely not be able to participate in the hunt for the planet: its luminosity reaches 22–25th magnitude, and through St. Petersburg telescopes it is possible to see, at best, objects of 20–21st magnitude. However, if the rules established in the protective park area of ​​the observatory had been followed, the situation might have turned out differently.

In January 2015, a new meter-diameter Saturn telescope was launched at the Main Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory. In the 70s, he flew in a balloon at an altitude of 20 km, from where he photographed the Sun. After which it was mothballed until 2013, and then modernized and installed in Pulkovo. Now the first astrometric observations are being carried out on it.

If we darkened all the objects around the observatory that interfere with observations, then we could look for the ninth planet. Foreign large telescopes may be much more likely to discover a new planet, but their size means they have a small field of view and will have difficulty measuring its position relative to the stars and therefore calculating its orbit. This is where Pulkovo could come to the rescue, since the accuracy of local observations is comparable to the accuracy of the HIPPARCOS space telescope, and St. Petersburg astronomers provide more high-precision astrometric observations than all other Russian observatories combined.

GAO's telescopes are also capable of microlensing, which can detect massive and otherwise invisible clumps of matter such as the mysterious "dark matter."

So, St. Petersburg astronomers have something to fight for. But, unfortunately, they are losing one battle after another.

And one eighth will be enough

In the mid-2000s, approvals for construction within the three-kilometer protective park zone around the observatory were extremely rare. However, in 2014, several construction projects were agreed upon at once, which brought the observatory to a critical point. Let us note that all approvals were issued with conditions: do not shine! But, as astronomers note, no one ultimately complies with these conditions.

“We have a tendency in our country to perceive light as an objective good. The lighter the better,” explains observatory employee Alexander Shumilov. “Meanwhile, too bright night light has a strong impact on the insect population, it is also harmful for birds, and provokes cancer. Well, astronomers suffer. Our lamps usually shine in all directions, although it is not clear why we need to illuminate the sky. We can see the Pulkovo Highway from the observatory, although it is lower than us by simply putting caps on the lamps.”

Now the most serious trouble has crept up on Pulkovskaya - the Planetograd residential complex, for which the observatory previously approved a project for planning the territory for 100 thousand residents right behind its fence, in the most important direction for telescopes. The Planetograd project itself—or rather, part of it, one block out of eight—has been submitted to the State Administrative District for approval.

If the project does not meet the requirements of preserving the astroclimate, the observatory will soon find itself in a difficult position. She will have to make an epoch-making decision for the future of astronomers: refuse approval - and thereby incur the wrath of the powers that be, or agree - and thereby lose the high accuracy of observations and reduce the most valuable scientific programs. The result of the consideration of the Planetograd project by the observatory should be expected in February.