Museum of Astronomy

(33 Astronomicheskaya; © 10.00-18.00 Tue-Sun; US$2)

The year 2009 was the UN's International Year of Astronomy and also the 615th anniversary of the astronomer and emperor Ulug Begs birth. Tashkent marked the event with the opening of this new museum, supported by UNESCO. Exhibitions chart the development of astronomy from ancient times through medieval discoveries to the present. The most interesting artefacts are the huge number of telescopes and quadrants, and, for those unable to make it to Samarkand, a scale model of the meridian quadrant once used in Ulug Begs observatory. Though not on the standard tourist itinerary, the museum is well worth a visit.