The Ulugh Beg Observatory was an astronomical observatory in Samarkand, in present-day Uzbekistan, built by the Timurid ruler and astronomer Ulugh Beg, grandson of Timur. Its main instrument was a huge meridian arc, a sextant with a radius of about forty metres, set into a trench in the ground, used to measure the positions of stars with great accuracy. The observatory's work produced the Zij-i Sultani, a star catalogue of more than a thousand stars, the most accurate since Ptolemy. Ulugh Beg was assassinated, and the observatory was destroyed by religious opponents, but its remains were found by a Russian archaeologist in 1908.
Before and after
- from 1417 to 1420Construction of Registan
- 1417Construction of Tiananmen Square
- from 30 July 1419 to 30 May 1434Hussite Wars
- 1420Construction of Kremlin
- from c. 1420s to 1440sFounding of Ulugh Beg Observatory
- 1420The Forbidden City is completed
- from June 1422 to March 1430Siege of Thessalonica
- from 1423 to 1454Wars in Lombardy
- from 1427 to 1864Circassia
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.