Astronomical Museum

In 1938, the Taiwan Daily, a forerunner of the Taiwan Hsinsheng Daily, donated a 4 inch reflecting equatorial telescope sitting atop the observation dome of the Kung-hui Hall to the Taipei Military Headquarters in commeremor-ation of the paper’s 40th anniversary. After Taiwan was returned to China, the Kung-hui Hall was taken over by the city government, and its name was changed to the City Hall, becoming the precursor to the Taipei Astronomical Museum.
Later, before satellites were launched into orbit around the Earth, the “China Satellite Observation Committee” was found in 1958 at the request of the American Smithsonian Observatory. Observation teams were organized, and represented the R.O.C. to participate in observation.
Society’s quest for information about astronomy increased dramatically in 1957. The bright light emitted at night in the vicinity of the City Hall interfered with the observations, and the Taipei City Government approved the observatory’s move.
After going through a planning stage, it was decided that the observatory should be set up at the Yuanshan Scenic Area. Construction began in 1960 and was officially completed in 1963. After the city government was changed to a directly administered region, the regulations of the observatory were sent to the Executive Yuan for review and approval in 1969. In light of the fact that the astronomy engaged in the important task of scientific education and the equipment of the observatory were in desperate need of upgrade, a planetarium was constructed in 1978 and completed on July 1st, 1980.