"The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause." [UNESCO World Heritage List]
Perhaps the most cherished instrument in their collection is a 19th century telescope. "The 9.5" Fraunhofer Refractor (also known as the Great Dorpat Refractor) was installed at Tartu Observatory at the end of 1824 by F. G. W. Struve. It was the best and the most modern refracting telescope built up to that time, and was for many years the largest achromatic refractor in the world. Tartu Observatory was also one of the best equipped observatory in Europe during the years 1825–1840. The most important work done by F. G. W. Struve with the Fraunhofer Refractor was detecting about 3100 double stars and measuring the stellar parallax of Vega. Nowadays, the Fraunhofer Refractor has been reconstructed and it stands as a museum piece at Tartu Old Observatory." [The Fraunhofer Refractor at Tartu Observatory by Kalju Annuk]
Tartu Old Observatory website: http://www.obs.ee/index_eng.html (in English)
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