OBSERVATOIRE DE PARIS


Founded :	1667
Activities :	all the fields of astronomy
Information to general public :	Tour in the observatory : for the general public : the first saturday of the month (on reservation) for groups of students and pupils : everyday on reservation
Address :	61 avenue de l'Observatoire, F-75014 Paris and 77 avenue Denfert-Rochereau, F-75014 Paris
Phone :	33 (1) 40 51 21 21

The dome on the top of the building was added during the XIXth century.

Paris Observatory was founded under the king Louis XIV in 1667 on request by Colbert. The building as shown on the image was erected by the architect Claude Perrault.
Paris Observatory includes also nowadays Meudon Observatory (since 1926), the radio-astronomical observatory in Nançay (since 1958) and the Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides (IMCCE since 1998). Paris Observatory is a "grand établissement d'enseignement supérieur" a status similar to the one of universities.

Paris Observatory has several sites: it has also several fields of interest. Theoreticians, observers and instrument makers are using mathematical, physical and chemical tools, numerical simulations and laboratory experiments in order to perform researches covering almost all the field of astronomy and astrophysics.
Paris Observatory is not also the oldest modern observatory in the world: it is also the largest considering the number of people working there (about 800, 350 of which being astronomers, researchers and teachers).