Guanajuato, Gto., October 14, 2019.- From the nineteenth century to the present, scientific studies in the area of Astronomy have been present at the University of Guanajuato (UG), one of the historical traces of such studies is a meridian telescope, an object that is part of the collection of goods of the cultural heritage of the maximum house of studies of the state.

Dr. Miguel Angel Guzmán López, Coordinator of the General Archive of the University of Guanajuato mentioned that the meridian telescope is one of the most valuable objects in terms of historical memory and will therefore be on display at the Museum of the University of Guanajuato (MUG). This telescope has been sheltered in recent years at the "La Azotea" Astronomical Observatory located in the central building of the University of Guanajuato.

"The postgraduate degree in Astronomy is newly created at the University of Guanajuato, its opening happened in the 90s of the twentieth century, but the astronomical knowledge in our institution is much older. One of the first documents mentioning the Astronomy classes dates from 1870, taught at the State College," the historian said.

He emphasized that at the time law students carried the subject of cosmography as part of their second-teaching studies and those studying to be geographers and surveyors were studying theoretical and practical astronomy. However, he said that there were references that before 1870, astronomical studies existed in the State College because the meridian telescope was available in the educational institution.

In this regard, Dr. Héctor Bravo Alfaro, professor and researcher in the Department of Astronomy of the University of Guanajuato, who is also responsible for the activities that are carried out at the Astronomical Observatory "La Azotea", mentioned that the telescope Meridian was manufactured by the French company "Lerebours & Secretains" a company that only operated during the period from 1845 to 1855.

One of the aspects that reveal that studies in Astronomy are ancient at the University of Guanajuato is that the meridian telescope has an inscription in which it says it was made for the State College. "That's where we believe the telescope was manufactured or delivered to the College of Guanajuato at that time," said Dr. Bravo Alfaro.

He also added that this type of telescope takes the name of meridian because it only moved from north to south and had two functions: one was to record the passage of objects through the local meridian and if the position of the stars was known then it served to obtain the precise time.

Dr. Héctor Bravo indicated that the University of Guanajuato has the privilege of having ancient instruments that have served the study of science and this is of great relevance because in this way the new generations have an idea of how the scientific work at a different time and strengthens the historical memory of the Institution.

For his part, the Director of the Department of Astronomy of the University of Guanajuato, Dr. Carlos Alanias Rodríguez Rico indicated that one of the main objectives of those who are part of said department is to train high-level professionals from bachelor's degree to doctoral degrees, as well as conducting cutting-edge research internationally. He invited those interested to consult the academic offer of the Postgraduate Sciences (Astrophysics) that can be studied at the University of Guanajuato, both the master's and the doctorate have the recognition of the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt).

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