Nikolay Petrov Prize

Every year during the National Astronomical Conference the Nikolay Petrov prize is bestowed for sustained and dedicated work in amateur astronomy. Its patron is Mr. Nikolay Petrov, founder and the first director of the Astronomical Observatory, an honorary citizen of Varna.

2006 - Hristo Stoev

In 2006 the Nikolay Petrov prize was given to Hristo Stoev, a physics student in the Sofia University.

Hristo Stoev attended the astronomy courses in the observatory since 2002. During the school year 2003/2004 he was engaged in systematic measurements of the period of the Foucault pendulum in the observatory, based on which he determined the length of the pendulum's string and prepared a report for the National Astronomical Conference. He took part in a theatrical performance with physics experiments, that was shown at the European Festival Physics on Stage - 3 in 2003. He carried out observations of meteors, variable stars and the Sun. In 2005 in a team with other students he participated in the European education project "Catch a Star" with a presentation on observations of the Comet LINEAR. and won the second prize. He puts a lot of effort giving a persistent help in the organization of the national education programmes "Physics in My Eyes" and "Sky Treasure Hunters".

2005 - Petar Todorov

In 2005 the Nikolay Petrov prize was given to Petar Todorov, a student in 4th Foreign Language School in Varna. Petar is a member of the astronomical circles in the observatory since 2002. He is one of the most active observers of meteors and variable stars. He has taken part several times in the International Meteor Conference. Petar has created computer programmes for predicting the moments of minima and maxima and for processing the observing data of variable stars. He is one of the best participants in the National Astronomy Olympiad. In 2004 he participated in the European education project "Catch a Star" with a presentation about the Orion Nebula. In 2005 he again took part in the same project with a work based on three-year observations of the variable star RZ Cassiopeiae and won the sixth prize. Later he continued his work with an investigation of the hypothesis about a third companion in the system RZ Cas. He won the third prize in the Contest for young talents organized by the Ministry of Education and Science, and then, in the European contest for young scientists, where he defended in a marvellous way his paper, he was awarded with the special prize of the European Southern Observatory for an astronomical project and visit to the La Silla Paranal observatory in Chile. Now Petar is studying physics in the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France.

2004 - Maria Krumova

For the first time the Nikolay Petrov prize was given in 2004 to Maria Krumova, a student in the Mathematic School "D-r Petar Beron" in Varna. Maria joined the astronomical circles in the observatory in 1999. She is an active meteor observer of long standing with an excellent experience, whose data are sent to the International Meteor Organization. She has presented reports on meteor observations at the National Astronomical Conference. She has participated in the annual International Meteor Conference and she had contributed to the preparation of many articles and posters for that conference. She took part in the National Astronomy Olympiad and in two consequent years she was among the best six participants in the national tour. With a presentation on the Coma Berenices stellar cluster she took part in the European education project "Catch a Star" - 1 in 2003. Now Maria is studying philosophy in Sofia University.

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Brief biographies of the laureates are given by Mrs. Eva Bojurova. You can contact her at bojurova#at#astro-olymp.org