Grand monument to history
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Perched on the Sheshan Hill, Songjiang Observatory, also known as the Shanghai Astronomy Museum, is a base camp for the urban stargazers. Built 114 years ago by a French missionary, it was China’s first observatory with a dome and a modern large-scale astronomical telescope.
One of the biggest highlights is a scaling-down copy of the Jian Telescope, invented by Guo Shouyi, a stargazer during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). He simplified the bulky ancient telescope and greatly improved the accuracy and efficiency. The original one was melted down in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), mistaken as waste copper.
Though old-fashioned today, the Jian Telescope was the most advanced instrument of its kind in the 13th century. It was also the first one in the world to have an equatorial armillary sphere.
In the observatory’s five domes, there is one 15-centimeter-calibresolar telescope, through which visitors can watch the sun’s chromosphere.
The “first telescope in the Far East,” a 40-centimeter caliber, three-ton binocular as old as the observatory, is always a must-see in the observatory. It escaped damage during wars and the cultural revolution (1966-76). Since 1900, the binocular has taken more than 7,000 photos of the universe, including the Halley Comet.
The astronomical library at the site is also a wonder. It includes a collection of books dating back two centuries.
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