Visiting exhibition of space images with the new 1.5m Rozhen telescope at the Regional Natural History Museum - Plovdiv

On 09/09/2024 at 18:00 at the Regional Natural History Museum - Plovdiv, a guest exhibition of the first images of space objects captured with the new 1.5 m telescope at NAO Rozhen will be opened. During the opening, the astronomer Ch. Assistant Professor Milen Minev, Ph.D., who authored the images, will give a presentation in the museum's Planetarium and share more information about the telescope, the research it enables, and how the images were captured. The exhibition will be available for viewing for three weeks - until 02.10.2024 in the exhibition hall of the museum.

Among the impressive footage are images of the planet Jupiter and of stars, nebulae, galaxies, star clusters and formations of interstellar gas and dust such as the famous "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula in the Serpent constellation. The author of the photographs is the astronomer Ch. assistant professor Milen Minev, PhD, and their processing was carried out by the astronomer Emil Ivanov, who is a well-known opera performer.

The exhibition with the first images from the new telescope at the National Academy of Sciences is displayed in the BAS, the Metropolitan Library, the 4th School "Prof. John Atanasov" - Sofia, Moscow State University "St. Ivan Rilski", in the Planetarium in Smolyan and in the National Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium "Nicolaus Copernicus" in Varna.

The construction of the latest acquisition of scientists from the Institute of Astronomy with NAO - BAS has been going on for nearly two years. The official opening of the telescope takes place on July 1, 2023. Its commissioning marks the most successful stage of the RACIO project, funded under the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure (2020-2027), coordinated by the Ministry of Education and Science.

The documentary film "The New Telescope", which is available on YouTube, with authors journalist Dimitar Sotirov and cameraman Valentin Paskalev, traces the individual stages in the construction of the modern facility, through which the IA with NAO continues to stand confidently on the international astronomical stage in the 21st century century. From the year of its establishment - 1981 until today, the National Astronomical Observatory in Rozhen maintains its leading position as a research and educational center in South-Eastern Europe. This development will continue with the expected completion of the first Bulgarian station of the pan-European LOFAR radio telescope in 2025 and its connection to the remaining 53 stations located in different European countries.

For contact:
Dimitar Sotirov - 0878 319 402
Public relations
Institute of Astronomy with National Academy of Sciences - BAS