History

Before founding the city of La Plata, Dr Dardo Rocha, Governor of Buenos Aires Province, had considered that it was necessary for the province to have an appropriate cartographic survey, whose execution would be favoured by the installation of an astronomical observatory. In December 1882 the transit of planet Venus across the face of the Sun - astronomical event of worldwide attraction - arouse real interest among astronomical experts. These professionals collaborated with their French peers to determine which observation site was the best one on these lands. Although this observation could not be made due to bad weather conditions, the instrumentation that the province had ordered for this purpose served as an initial support for the Observatory of La Plata. On 22 November 1883 the Observatory was inaugurated.

In 1905 Dr Joaquín V. González promoted the nationalisation of Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) with a view to bestowing, above all, a scientific and experimental character on it, like that corresponding to the positivist thought of the time. And for that purpose, the Astronomical Observatory played an important part in the foundation of La Plata, a matter of pride for this young city.

Thirty years later the authorities acknowledged the need to train astronomers. Therefore, the first Escuela de Ciencias Astronómicas y Conexas (School of Astronomical and Related Sciences) was founded in La Plata. This School was the first one in Latin America. It then included Meteorology, Seismology and Geomagnetism. In 1948, from some of the subjects taught in Astronomy, the graduate course of Geophysics was created.

In 1982 the Observatory and Escuela Superior de Astronomía y Geofísica (Graduate School of Astronomy and Geophysics) merged into the academic unit whose name has been used since then: Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas (FCAG).

To learn more about our history, visit the Museo de Astronomía y Geofísica's website (Museum of Astronomy and Geophysics' website).