First light for Pico dos Dias Observatory (OPD) occurred on April 22, 1980. The Observatory is located between the cities of Brazópolis and Piranguçu (Minas Gerais, Brazil), at an altitude of 1864 m. It is operated by the National Laboratory of Astrophysics (LNA) and it is home to the largest optical telescope in Brazil: the 1.6 m Perkin-Elmer with equatorial mount. OPD was crucial for the development of Brazilian astronomy. No more than a few PhDs existed in Brazil at the time of the project (in the 1960s), construction and beginning of its operations. The availability of the Observatory encouraged a significant increase in post-graduate studies; today, there are ca. 300 PhDs in Brazil. Instrumentation has also evolved from photographic plates and photomultipliers to the newest generation of semiconductor-based detectors. Therefore, OPD was contemporaneous of the revolution in the generation of astronomical data along the 20th century: from the complex register of images and spectra in the photographic plates to the production of gigabytes of data in a single night. Since 2010, we have been working on the documentation and preservation of the historical materials of the Observatory. The collection includes detectors, microdensitomers, fotometers, filters, meteorological instruments as well as photographic plates and other astronomical data registers. In this work we will present the organization of this collection aimed at creating a virtual museum, which will provide broad public access to this important chapter of scientific development in Brazil.

This presentation is based on work co-authored by Cláudia Penha Santos and Katia Bello.