IA - BAS

INSTITUTE OF ASTRONOMY AND NAO-ROZHEN

Address:

   Institute of Astronomy,
   72, Tsarigradsko Chaussee Blvd.
   1784, Sofia
   Bulgaria
   Tel.: (+359) 2 974 19 10

    The Institute of Astronomy (IA) carries out fundamental research in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as education of specialists in that field.
   To the IA belong two modern observatories for optical observations and research - the National Astronomical Observatory (NAO) (old site here) at Rozhen and the Astronomical Observatory (AOB) in Belogradchik. NAO - Rozhen is situated in the Rhodopy Mountains at peak Rozhen (altitude: 1750m), about 25 km from the town of Smolian.
   The coordinates of NAO - Rozhen are:

longitude: 01^h 38^m 58^s
latitude: 41^deg 41^' 48^''

   The main telescope of NAO - Rozhen is a 2 meter reflector, optical system Ritchey-Chretien-Coude, made by Carl Zeiss, Jena. This is still the biggest telescope in South-East Europe. To the telescope equipment belong: a dual channel focal reducer (F/2.8), CCD Photometrics (1024x1024, px = 24µm) and CCD VersArray 1330B (1340x1300, px =24 µm). Both CCD cameras are nitrogen cooled. The second CCD camera has been sponsored to NAO- Rozhen by UNESCO-ROSTE. In the Ritchey - focus (F/8) direct frames could be obtained with limiting stellar magnitude 22m. In the Coude - focus (F/36) spectra could be obtained with 3 different cameras: 18A/mm, 9A/mm and 4A/mm. The spectral resolution is ~ 30000.
   The second telescope of NAO-Rozhen is a dedicated photometric telescope, 60 cm Cassagrain. It is equipped with an USB, photon-counting, single-channel, computer-controlled photometer. The third telescope of NAO-Rozhen is 50/70 cm Schmidt telescope for wide-field observations This telescope is equipped with an SBIG ST8 CCD camera.
   In 2005, in the laboratory of IA, a new 15cm solar coronagraph was built and was mounted in the solar dome of NAO. With this coronagraph, a new program of monitoring of the solar corona is now started.
   The AO Belogradchik is equipped with a 60cm Cassegrain and an automated photometer.
   The research programs in the IA, according to the respective 7 departments, are: solar physics, studies of the Solar System, Non-stationary stars, Chemically peculiar stars, Stellar atmospheres and envelopes, Stellar clusters and Galaxies. Presently, the scientific staff includes 18 senior research fellows and 17 research fellows. There are 28 PhD holders and 12 PhD students.
   International collaboration includes mostly European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Czec-republic, Slovakia, Austria and all countries from EE. During last years there is a strong development of the regional collaboration and SREAC - committee was established (Sub-Regional European Committee) with participation of : Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and MN, Turkey and Ukraine. Two major scientific projects of SREAC have been supported by UNESCO_ROSTE. NAO-Rozhen is recognized as a regional center for astronomical reserch.