Museo de Astronomía y Geodesia

About the museum

The Museum of Astronomy and Geodesy of the Complutense University of Madrid brings together scientific instruments that illustrate how the methods of astronomy, geodesy and surveying evolved over some 170 years. The first pieces were gathered from 1950 onwards, including instruments found in buildings of the former Universidad Central. The collection is due to the professor José María Torroja Menéndez (1916–1994) and his collaborators Miguel J. Sevilla and Ricardo Vieira. The museum opened in 1995.

The oldest holdings are planetariums and a celestial sphere, useful for explaining the geocentric and heliocentric models. There are also refracting and reflecting telescopes, meridian instruments, a prism astrolabe and a precision pendulum clock. The largest group consists of theodolites, some with a precision of about two arc-seconds, together with tacheometers, compasses, levels and drawing instruments.

Some instruments were used in the 19th-century geodetic works directed by General Ibáñez de Ibero, including the national geodetic network and the first geodetic link between Europe and Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar. The room is small, so only part of the collection is on display.

Highlights

• Historic planetariums and celestial sphere
• Refracting and reflecting telescopes
• Prism astrolabe and precision pendulum clock
• Theodolites and tacheometers from the 19th and 20th centuries
• Instruments from the geodetic works of Ibáñez de Ibero

Permanent exhibition

• Instrumentos de astronomía, geodesia y topografía – Historic observation and measuring instruments: celestial spheres, telescopes, prism astrolabe, pendulum clock and theodolites.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission, but tickets must be booked in advance on the Complutense University website (ucm.es/cultura/entradas).

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Amenities & dining

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