European Researchers’ Night in Astronomy Tower, 2017. UL Photo Archive, photo by Toms Grīnbergs.

On October 1 the University of Latvia Museum Astronomy Tower begins its 33rd demonstration season, opening its doors two evenings a week – everyone can view the night sky on Mondays and Thursdays from 19:00 to 21:00 without a prior appointment, on the condition that the sky is clear.

If you can see the stars in the evening, come and inspect them closer at Raiņa bulvāris 19, Riga, – climb the stairs to the very rooftop. Besides the stars, the Tower’s modern telescope with the lens of 20 centimetres in diameter enables viewing the moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. The appearance of a bright comet is not ruled out. The observation season at the Tower closes at the end of March, when the evening sky becomes light. Admission fee for adults is 2 euro, for pupils, students, pensioners and people with special needs – 1 euro. The University of Latvia students can visit the Tower free of charge. The Astronomy Tower was specially designed for the building on Raiņa bulvāris 19, which was completed in 1869, and so the Tower has served astronomy for next to 150 years. In the 19th century, the Tower's telescope was used for scientific observations, in the first half of the 20th century, the Tower was the facility enabiling the students to implement practice, but since 1986 the Astronomy Tower has been operating as a public observatory.

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