Crimean Astrophysical Observatory

The observatory's logo
Alternative names	Krymskai︠a︡ astrofizicheskai︠a︡ observatorii︠a︡
Observatory code	095
Location	near Nauchnyi, Crimea
Coordinates	44°43′36″N 34°0′57.1″E / 44.72667°N 34.015861°E / 44.72667; 34.015861
Established	1945
Website	crao.ru/ru/
Telescopes
TST-1 Solar telescope TST-2 Solar telescope Shain telescope 2.6-metre telescope AZT-11 reflector 1.22-m Babelsberg telescope AZT-8 reflector
Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, obs. code: 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called simply by its location and campus name, Crimea–Nauchnij, still ranks among the worldwide most prolific discovery sites for minor planets.^[2]

CrAO has also been publishing the Bulletin of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory since 1947, in English since 1977. The observatory facilities (IAU code 095) are located on territory of settlement of Nauchnyi since the mid-1950s; before that, they were further south, near Simeiz. The latter facilities still see some use, and are referred to as the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory–Simeiz (IAU code 094).

Observatory leaders

• 1945–1952: Grigory Shajn - head of construction, the first director of the Observatory at Nauchny.
• 1952–1987: Andrei Severny.
• 1987–2005: Nikolai Steshenko.^[3][4]
• 2005 – present: Alla Rostopchina-Shakhovskaya (Romanova).^[5][6]

List of discovered minor planets

As of 2016, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) gives a total of 1286 numbered minor planets that were discovered at the Crimea–Nauchnij observatory site during 1966–2007.^[2] Most of these discovery are credited to the Russian/Soviet astronomers Tamara Smirnova, Lyudmila Chernykh, Nikolai Chernykh, Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Bella A. Burnasheva, Nikolaj Efimovič Kuročkin, Lyudmila Karachkina, Natalʹja Vitalʹevna Metlova and Galina Ričardovna Kastelʹ. As a peculiarity, British astronomer and long-time MPC director Brian G. Marsden is also credited with the co-discovery of 37556 Svyaztie at Nauchnij in 1982, as a symbolic gesture of the astronomical collaborations and friendships between the East and the West during the Cold War.^[7]

The MPC also credits the discovery of the following minor planets directly to the observatory (rather than to one of the above listed astronomers):^[1]

Gallery

The large optical 2.6-metre Shajn telescope is named after Grigory Shajn (left); The 122-cm Babelsberg telescope and the BST-1 Solar telescope (middle); Rally for the rescue of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in 2013 (right).