Main Astronomical Observatory of NAS of Ukraine

The Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was founded on July 17, 1944, on the initiative of the renowned scientist, astronomer, and geophysicist Alexander Yakovlevich Orlov (1880–1954). It is located 12 km from the center of Kyiv in the Holosiivskyi Forest (hence its unofficial name—Holosiivska).

The observatory was headed by O.Y. Orlov, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1944–1948 and 1951–1952); V.P. Tsesevich (1948–1951), Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR A.O. Yakovkin (1952–1959), Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR E.P. Fedorov (1959–1973), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences I.K. Koval (1973–1975), and Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ya. S. Yatskiv (1975–2026). Since 2026, the Observatory has been headed by Iryna Borysivna Vavilova, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The observatory plays a leading role in many fields of astronomy, such as: research on the Earth’s rotation and the construction of coordinate systems in outer space; the physics of the Sun’s photosphere and the bodies of the Solar System; and the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies, among others.