History of Public astronomical observatory and planetarium “ Nicolaus Copernicus”, Varna
The launching of the first artificial satellite of the Earth on 4 th October 1957 set the beginning of the cosmic era. This exceptional event caused great interest among all people. As a result of this in different towns in Bulgaria groups of enthusiasts were formed, which initiated the construction of a network of stations for observations of artificial satellites of the Earth and astronomy and cosmonautics clubs. These clubs, on the other hand, initiated the creation of national astronomic observatories and planetariums in Bulgaria .
In
1960 a group of enthusiasts from Varna created an astronautics and astronomy
club. This club was one of the initiators for Varna 's municipality to
make a proposal for the regular XIII Congress of the International Aviation
and Astronomy Federation to be held in September 1962 in the city of
Varna . Official guest of this congress was the second Soviet astronaut – German
Titov. After the congress the idea of building an astronomical observatory
in Varna appeared. In the enterprising committee, under the guidance
of the mayor of Varna of that time – Nikolai Boyadzhiev, teachers, tutors
at the Naval Academy “N. Y. Vapcarov” in Varna , officers from the Bulgarian
Naval High Quarter and many others took part. In 1963 the astronautics
and astronomy club was given a building in the central part of the Sea
Garden . In this building the first astronomy and rocket modeling courses
took place.
With a decision of Varna 's City Council plans were made for the reorganization and reconstruction of the already existing building and in 1964 the construction of a new building of the observatory began. In the process of building a change in the initial plans was made and next to the building of the observatory a planetarium with a sky theatre and a spacious lecture hall were built.
On 22 nd May 1968 was the official opening ceremony of the first in Bulgaria astronomical complex, consisting of an observatory, a planetarium and a tower with Foucault pendulum. On the decision of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers the complex was named after the great Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus. Director of the observatory from its creation till the year of 1989 was Nikolai Petrov.
In the period of building the observatory was one of the stations for observations of artificial satellites of the Earth working on the territory of Bulgaria . With the help of special equipment visual observations were conducted and artificial satellites of the Earth were taken pictures of by program co-ordinated with the scientific academies of the countries in East Europe .
The photographing of the satellite “ Pageos” is a part of the program for tying the geodetic network of East Europe and measurings on the meridian from Helsinki to Adis Abeba.
The visual observations of artificial satellites of the Earth are used for determining their orbits, for specifying the gravitational field of the Earth and the changes in the geopotential. The results of these observations are published in the simposiums “Observations of artificial satellites of the Earth” and “ Reports of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences”.
In the beginning the observatory was equipped with several small telescopes. Telescope refractor 80/1200 mm with paralactic head and telescope Kasegren 150/2250 mm with paralactic head that were installed in the two moving domes on the last floor of the observatory. On the observation platform is installed a 100/250 mm camera NAFA for photographing artificial satellites of the Earth. During mass observations portable refractor telescopes and big binocular tubes TZK 80/8x are used. |  |
In the sky theatre of the planetarium is installed a ZKP (Zeiss Kleinplanetarium) projector, which projects 5500 stars on a hemispherical dome with diameter of 10.5 metres. With the help of additional projectors are demonstrated the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the planets among the stars. Special projectors demonstrate the movement of the planets round the sun from a viewpoint situated 5 billion km away on the polar axis of the ecliptic. Diaprojectors for visualizing the lectures are also used. |
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In Foucault's tower is installed a Foucault pendulum with length of the thread 17.6 m and deviation in the basis of about 2m. For the latitude of Varna - 43 ° 12' north latitude, the movement of the plane of swinging of the pendulum as a result of the axis-round motion of the Earth is 10 ° 03' per one hour in direction from east to west. |
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In 1971 started the building of a branch of the observatory in the village of Avren , about 35 km away from Varna in the highest part of the plateaux of Avren. The observatory has a building, tower with a 5.2 metre dome and 50/890cm telescope, system Cassegrain. In the yard is situated the observation field for meteors and telescopes and cameras for photographing of heavenly bodies and phenomena. |
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In the observatory is organized the Youth Astronomy Club “ Canopus ”. Members of the club are amateurs and members of the courses for preparation of amateurs. During the school year and during the holidays for the members of the club are organized observation expeditions in the observatory of Avren, in the National Observatory “ Rozhen” and the summer school in Belite Brezi. The results of the work of the club members are reported at the annual National Youth Astronomical Conference.
In 1970 on the initiative of Varna 's observatory was conducted the first Astronomy Week. Specialists form section Astronomy at the Bulgarian Academy of the Sciences, the astronomy department at the SU “ Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, the national observatories and the members of youth astronomy clubs took part.
In connection with the 500 th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus' birth on the decision of the Bulgarian committee for the celebration, under the chairmanship of the vice chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – academician Emil Dzhakov, the national celebration was conducted during the third Astronomy Week in May, 1973. During the Week was held the final part of the Bulgarian competition dedicated to Copernicus. The winner was invited to participate in the celebrations in Poland .
A scientific session was held during the week. The reports were published in a special collection. The first meeting of the amateurs initiated the annual National Youth Conferences.
For its immense contribution to the celebrations of the 500 th anniversary of Copernicus Varna's observatory was awarded a memorable medal from the country of Poland and two specialists were invited to take part in a congress of the International Astronomy Union in Warshawa.
The specialists of the Observatory Copernicus - Varna work in different fields such as:
1) Observations and explorations of celestial objects and phenomena. For the observations we use telescopes and other utilities of the Observatory Copernicus, but also of the National Astronomical Observatory "Rozhen" and the Astronomical Observatory - Belogradchik.
2) Educational work in the spheres of astronomy, physics, geography and natural history with teachers and students in the system of the elementary and secondary education.
3) Preparation and education of amateurs.
4) Organization of the National Youth Conference
5) Popularization of astronomy and the related to it sciences among the citizens.
The main accomplishments of the specialists from Varna 's observatory in the field of the astronomical researches are:
Georgi Ivanov, specialist at the observatory defended a dissertation on the theme “ The real colours of the classical Cepheids and some of their applications” in order to receive the degree master of the physical sciences. From 1980 he has been working at the astronomy department of the SU “ Sv. Kliment Ohridski” where he defended doctoral dissertation and now he is a professor in ordinary and a director of the department of many years.
Plamen Baev, specialist at the observatory, completed his post-graduate course in Moscow and defended a dissertation dedicated to the dynamics of the objects in the galaxies.
Nikolai Petrov and Dimitar Metodiev, specialists at the observatory, have publications on observations of artificial satellites of the Earth and the methods of work with astronomy dabblers and the lectures at the planetarium.
In 1975 Radostin Kurtev, an astronomy dabbler from astroclub “ Canopus”, during his observations of a variable star in the constellation Cygnus, was one of the first people who observed the nova outburst in Cygnus, which is marked in the Moscow Astronomy Institute GAISH magazine. Radostin Kurtev is currently working as an associate professor at the astronomy department of SU. His interests are in the regions of star formation in nearby galaxies.
Specialists at Varna 's observatory have worked on different topics and have published their results in Bulgarian and foreign magazines.
The results from comet observations are published in ICQ. Results from observations of meteors are published in WGN, reports of the annual conferences of the International Meteor Organization and MNRAS.
The work with students and teachers within the range of the secondary school curriculum mainly consists of giving out special lectures at the sky theatre and telescope observations of various heavenly bodies and phenomena. For the teachers there are series of lectures and seminars regarding the problems in teaching astronomy and elements of astronomy during physics, geography and natural history classes. Methodical instructions for the extracurricular and out-of-school astronomy work are also prepared.
In 1998 Varna 's observatory organized the first National Astronomy Olympiad. The best participants took part in the III International Astronomy Olympiad. There they accomplished excellent results and they received three first, one second and one third award.
The specialists have also exceptional achievements in the preparation of meteor, comet, asteroid and variable stars observers. The people who have passed different forms of tuition take an active part in observation expeditions. A part of them continue their education in spheres that are directly or indirectly related to astronomy, but even those who turn to other sciences or careers have the wonderful memories from the activities at the observatory. Alumni of Varna 's observatory work at the Astronomy Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the department of physics at the SU “ St. Kliment Ohridski” and at universities, scientifical research institutes and astronomical observatories in foreign countries.
Since 1973 Varna 's observatory organizes annually the National Youth Astronomy Conference, in which high school and university students take part. On this conference reports are also presented by specialists at the Astronomy Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the University of Sofia . Since 1992 in the conference participate amateurs and students from foreign countries. In 2004 the XXX Astronomy Conference is hold.
The popularization of astronomy among citizens is achieved by special lectures in the sky theatre of the planetarium and by articles and interviews in the mass media.
On 15 August 2002 the reconstructed building of the National Astronomy Observatory and Planetarium “ Nicolaus Copernicus” was opened by the prime minister Simeon Sakskoburggotski and the ex-alumnus of the observatory – the vice prime minister Nikolai Vasilev.