By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (text and photos) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design)

A CELEBRATION OF THE MUNICIPAL OBSERVATORY
Astro-photo-essay by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

In 2020
the temple of Romanian amateur astronomers,
Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory,
turned 110 years old,
but its great celebration was canceled / postponed
because of the pandemic,
and replaced with a small, symbolic last-minute celebration
with the participation of the observatory astronomers
and a representative of the most important
national astronomical society (SARM).

Because that representative was me,
on December 18, 2020,
I went to the municipal observatory,
admiring once again the superb yacht-shaped building
(architect Ion D. Berindey),
greeting the old telescope nicknamed Berta
(“grandmother” of public astronomy in Romania)
and vowing respectfully to the busts
of three magnificent amateur astronomers
(Victor Daimaca - the discoverer of two comets in the 1940s -,
Admiral Vasile Urseanu – the president of
the first Romanian astronomical society in 1907 -
and Victor Anestin - the greatest
Romanian popularizer of astronomy in the 20th century).

In the observatory I found
Elisabeta Betty Petrescu in the Hall of Stars,
Mihai Dascalu finishing an article in his office
and coordinator Adrian Bruno Sonka
looking for deep sky objects on the computer,
glad he had just published a book,
“The Little Astronomer’s Guide in the Universe”.

Then we talked about phenomena, astronomy,
astronomers, history and various happenings,
and finally Mihai Dascalu took a symbolic photo
with Sonka and me.

I also appreciate that the most poetic moment of
the municipal observatory celebration
was given by Mihai Dascalu:

“In the magic of a total solar eclipse,
no one is interested to observe other heavenly bodies.
Maybe only if someone would shout:
Look, a supernova!!!”

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