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= Isfahan Observatory = The Isfahan Observatory was an astronomical observatory founded and built in 1074, in the Isfahan province of what is now modern day Iran. Funded by a Seljuq sultan, it was the place of study for Omar Khayyam and his students, who would produce a new zij and calendar for the sultan.

Description
The Seljuq sultan, Malik-Shah I, came to power in 1073 after defeating his uncle Qavurt, in Isfahan. With great ambitions of building on Ptolemy, Malik-Shah placed Omar Khayyam in charge of constructing and running an astronomical observatory in Isfahan, which was completed in 1074. Khayyam and others changed the sultan's mind, and suggested the more realistic and practical goal for the new observatory in making a zij or table, for creating a new calendar. Omar Khayyam succeeded in completing his zij, the Al-Zij Malik-shahi which was named in honor of the Seljuq sultan, and calendar. Calendar would become know as the Jalali calendar, which is a highly accurate calendar only needing 8 leap-days every 33 years, and was named in honor of Malik-Shah I.  The calendar is still used in parts of Iran today having been adopted in 1075.

Closure
The Isfahan Observatory was shut down in 1092, after the death of the sultan Malik-Shah I. Malik-Shah's death was followed by the death of another patron of the observatory, Nizam al-Mulk, who was murdered. Funding was cut off by the Seljuk sultan's wife, who had many disagreements with Mulk and the observatory was closed. Omar Khayyam, who had fallen from favor, stayed on for some time but eventually left his studies there. He would go to continue to work and make contributions in astronomy, mathematics and poetry. Malik-Shah's observatory was the first of many such astronomical observatories in the Islamicate world.

Modern Day
The Isfahan province is now home to a modern observatory called the Iranian National Observatory. It is located on Mount Gargash, and is working on many different experiments in cosmology.