Rozhen Observatory

Rozhen Observatory

250px Large Telescope Dome of the Rozhen Observatory
Organization	Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Location	Near Chepelare, Bulgaria
Coordinates
Altitude	1759 m
Website	NAO-Rozhen
Telescopes
Ritchey-Chretien-Coude telescope 200 cm Cassegrain telescope 60 cm Cassegrain reflector Schmidt telescope 50/70 cm Solar Coronagraph telescope 15 cm

Rozhen Observatory (Bulgarian: Национална астрономическа обсерватория - Рожен, НАО-Рожен; English: National Astronomical Observatory - Rozhen, NAO-Rozhen), also known as the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory, is a astronomical observatory, located in the Smolyan Province, 90 km south of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The nearest town, Chepelare, is 15 km away. The observatory is owned and operated by the Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It was officially opened on 13 March 1981, almost 20 years after Bogomil Kovachev (a Professor of Astronomy at BAS, known as its founder) had started working towards that goal. The Observatory is the largest in Southeastern Europe and has an active team of about 50 astronomers. It is the principal center for astronomical research in Bulgaria.

Telescopes

• 200 cm Ritchey-Chretien telescope (supplied with Coude focus)
• 60 cm Cassegrain telescope
• 50/70 cm Schmidt camera
• 15 cm Solar telescope

File:Bogomil Kovachev in 1987.jpg

Bogomil Kovachev, founder of the Rozhen Observatory, with a group of visiting Bulgarian scholars in the summer of 1987.

WASP-3c & TTV

Transit Timing Variation (TTV), a variation on the transit method, was used to discover an exoplanet WASP-3c by Rozhen Observatory, Jena Observatory, and Toruń Centre for Astronomy.

External links

• Official site
• Home Institute site
• (4486) Mithra (NEA) discovery in Rozhen Observatory 20 September 1987 by V. Shkodrov and E. Elst (IAUC 4464)
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]