Pico dos Dias Observatory, Astronomical observatory in Brasópolis, Brazil.

Pico dos Dias Observatory is an astronomical research facility located on a mountain peak in Minas Gerais state at approximately 1864 meters elevation. The site houses several telescopes of different sizes that astronomers use to observe stars, planets, and other celestial objects.

The observatory is operated by the National Astrophysical Laboratory (LNA), headquartered in Itajubá. Its main instrument, a 1.6 m Perkin-Elmer Ritchey-Chrétien reflector, became operational in 1981. A 0.6 m Zeiss telescope bought from East Germany in the 1960s in exchange for coffee was mounted in 1983, and a 0.6 m Boller & Chivens telescope followed in 1992 under an LNA agreement with the University of São Paulo.

The 0.6 m Zeiss telescope was bought from East Germany in the 1960s and 1970s in exchange for coffee, then mounted at the site in 1983. Since April 2017 a Russian 75 cm telescope, installed under an agreement between the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications and Roscosmos, watches for space debris.

Visits take place only on weekdays during daytime, on pre-set dates when no maintenance or instrument changes are under way, so observing the sky through a telescope is not possible. All visits must be booked in advance and confirmed by e-mail from the LNA; without that confirmation the visit is not guaranteed, and requests are handled in order of confirmation. Once a year the observatory holds an open-doors afternoon and evening, from 14:00 to 22:00, with places drawn by lottery. The access is a dirt road through native Atlantic Forest, where littering and picking plants are prohibited.

One of the telescopes at the facility was acquired through an unusual trade agreement between Brazil and East Germany involving Brazilian coffee in exchange for astronomical equipment. This historical arrangement shows how scientific cooperation found creative solutions during geopolitical tensions.