12.- Samarkand, Ulugbek's Observatory

So now we can continue our excursion. About three kilometers away from Samarkand there is a hill. Until the end of the year 1908 it never attracted someone's attention. But in the turn of the last century Russian archeologist Viatkin discovered the remnants of the Ulugbek's observatory. Visitors can still see the underground section of the giant marble sextant.

Ulug Bek's input to the science of astronomy puts him on the same level with Copernicus and Kepler. His work did not become known in the West until 1648, when a copy of his Catalogue of Stars was discovered in Oxford Bodleian Library. He has calculated the position of the moon, planets and 1018 stars with amazing precision.

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