Belgrade Astronomical Observatory

Belgrade Astronomical Observatory
Belgrade Astronomical Observatory
	Astronomsk opservatoriya at Beograd
	; Large refractor - Carl Zeiss 650 / 10550mm, equator.
Type of	astronomical observatory
Code	057 ( observations )
Location	Zvezdara , Belgrade , Serbia
Coordinates
Height	286 m
opening date	April 7, 1887
Site	aob.bg.ac.rs

The Belgrade Astronomical Observatory (AOB), also known as the Astronomical Observatory Zvezdara (Astronomical Observatory Zvezdara, which means “stars”) is an astronomical observatory founded in conjunction with the meteorological observatory in Belgrade , on April 7, 1887 , Serbia is the initiative of Milan Stareljevic - Institute of Serbia. In 1918 , when Belgrade was liberated from the Austro-Hungarian occupation , all instruments of the observatory were stolen or destroyed. The director of the observatory Nedelkovich was able to return some of the repair tools, but in 1945 the Nazis again removed some of them. January 30, 1924 there was a separation of the astronomical and meteorological observatory of the University of Belgrade . In 1935, time and longitude services were organized. Since July 1941, the German military was stationed at the observatory. Until July 1, 1948, the observatory was part of the University of Belgrade, and after December 18, 1950, it was subordinate to the Serbian Academy of Sciences . From December 18, 1950 to March 27, 1954, the observatory was part of the Committee of Scientific Institutions, Universities and Higher Education Schools of Serbia. Since March 27, 1957, the observatory has become an independent institution funded by the Executive Council of Serbia. Since August 9, 1985, the observatory received the status of an autonomous research institute with the Executive Council of the Assembly of Serbia as its founder, its name changed from the Astronomical Observatory to the Institute of Astronomical Research. Currently, the observatory has 41 employees and 32 of them are astronomers. The most famous employee of the observatory was Milutin Milankovich , who headed the observatory in 1951 .

Content

Observatory Departments

As a result of the reorganization in 1994, the following were created:

Department of Astrophysics
Department of Dynamic Astronomy
Department of Astrometry

Observatory Observatories

from May 1, 1871 to May 1, 1891 - the house of the Geizler family (was rented for this time)
from May 1, 1891 - a special building was built under the observatory in Karadjordje Park
from 1932 - in 1929 a site was allocated 4.5 hectares on a high hill on Veliky Vračar (Veliki Vracar, 253 m) 6 km southeast of the center of Belgrade , subsequently named, together with the entire surrounding part of Belgrade, Zvezdara , which means "starters."
The new observation platform of the Belgrade Observatory is built on the mountain en: Vidojevica .

Observatory Leaders

April 7, 1887 - January 30, 1924 - Milan Nedelkovich (from July 5, 1899 and October 31, 1900 - did not work, since there was a resignation for political reasons)
July 5, 1899 - October 31, 1900 - George Stanoevich
1914 - 1918 - during the Austro-Hungarian occupation, the observatory was led by Victor Konrad , who came from Vienna .
1925 - May 1948 - Vojislav V. Miskovic (Serbs. Voјislav V. Mishkoviћ)
May 1948 - July 26, 1951 - Milankovich, Milutin
June 26, 1951 - March 1954 - Vojislav V. Miskovic (Serbs. Voјislav V. Mishkoviћ)
March 1954 - November 21, 1961 - M. Protic
1961 - 1965 - Vasilije Oskanjan
July 1965 - 1970 - en: Petar Đurković
1971 - 1975 - M. Protic
1975 - September 1981 - M. Mijatov
September 1981 - 1989 - Miodrag Mitrovic
1989 - 1994 - Istvan Vince
November 21, 1994 - Milan Dimitrijevic (Serbs. Milan Dimitrijeviћ)
since 2002 - Zoran Knežević

Observatory Tools

Large refractor - Carl Zeiss 650 / 10550mm, equatorial;
Solar spectrograph (monochromatic) Litrow, 9000 mm / 100.000 designed to work with

Carl Zeiss 200/3020 mm;
Equatorial two astrocams Tessar and Petzval 160/800 mm.

Large meridian circle ASKANIA 190/2578 mm
Large theodolite ASKANIA 190/2578 mm
Large vertical circle ASKANIA 190/2578 mm
Astrograph Carl Zeiss 160/800 mm
Carl Zeiss photovisual refractors 135/1000 mm and 125/1000 mm
Theodolite BAMBERG 100/1000 mm
Zenith telescope ASKANIA 110/1287 mm
Meade 16 "f / 10 LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain with Apogee AP47p CCD camera (no later than 2006)

Research Areas

In the XX century:

observations of minor planets and comets
observations of binary stars and determination of their orbits
star photometry
spectroscopy and polarimetry (mainly eruptive stars , cold supergiants and Be stars)
spectrography of the sun
large-scale monitoring of photospheric movements
simulation of the emission line in a wide variety of astrophysical plasma

Besides:

meteorology
seismology
geomagnetism

Modern topics of the observatory:

Photometry of asteroids
Astrophysics of stars and the Sun
Astrophysical spectroscopy
Star and galactic systems
Interstellar and intergalactic matter
Cosmology and Astrobiology
Dynamic astronomy and planetology
History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Key achievements

discovered more than 200 new binary and multiple stars
discovered 43 asteroids
In 1957 - 1959, the observatory successfully participated in the International Geophysical Year : observations of the Sun and studies of the Earth's rotation and changes in geographical coordinates

Asteroids

In 1936, P. Djurkovic discovered, working at the Ukkel Observatory (Belgium), a small planet , which was later named (1605) Milankovic . In the same year, M. Protic discovered the small planet (1564) Serbia at the Belgrade Observatory, which marked the beginning of a long series of 43 discoveries of small planets by Belgrade astronomers. Only one Potich discovered 33 new asteroids in 20 years of observation ( 1936 - 1956 ). Here are some of these minor planets:

1517 Beograd
(1550) Tito
(1554) Yugoslavia
1675 Simonida
1724 Vladimir (in honor of the grandson of Potich)
(2244) Tesla
2348 Mishkovich

P. Djurkovic discovered 5 asteroids in 1936 - 1941 and one of them was named (1700) Zvezdara

Interesting Facts

A similar Large Zeiss refractor is located at the Pulkovo Observatory ; it, like Belgrade, is equipped with a special lifting floor in the dome space.

Links

Publications of observations at the Center for Minor Planets:

Astrometric observations of minor planets