The Hvar Observatory, part of the Geodetic school of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, is an astronomical research observatory located above the city of

Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For'', el, Φάρος, Pharos, la, Pharia, it, Lesina) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, wi ...

(the observatory's dome is between 173 and 245 meters above sea level). Opened in 1972, research at the observatory focuses on solar physics; the

photometry Photometry can refer to: * Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision * Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electrom ...

of stars, especially

variable Variable may refer to: * Variable (computer science), a symbolic name associated with a value and whose associated value may be changed * Variable (mathematics), a symbol that represents a quantity in a mathematical expression, as used in many ...

class

Be stars Be stars are a heterogeneous set of stars with B spectral types and emission lines. A narrower definition, sometimes referred to as ''classical Be stars'', is a non-supergiant B star whose spectrum has, or had at some time, one or more Balmer e ...

; and star clusters and galaxies. A double telescope is used for solar observation: one telescope observes the

photosphere The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. The term itself is derived from Ancient Greek roots, φῶς, φωτός/''phos, photos'' meaning "light" and σφαῖρα/''sphaira'' meaning "sphere", in reference to it ...

(opening diameter 217 mm, focal length 2450 mm) and the other observes the

chromosphere A chromosphere ("sphere of color") is the second layer of a star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below the solar transition region and corona. The term usually refers to the Sun's chromosphere, but not exclusively. In the Su ...

(opening diameter 130 mm, focal length 1950 mm) with a narrowband spectral filter. For stellar observation, a

Cassegrain reflector The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to th ...

with an opening diameter of 65 cm is used. Since 1997 a shared Austro-Croatian telescope is also used for stellar observation, which has a mirror diameter of 1 m and is also a Cassegrain reflector. The observatory is located above the city of Hvar on the southwest portion of

island, on a steep hill 240 meters above sea level in the historic Napoleonic fortifications built by the French army during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

at the beginning of the 19th century. The observatory was founded in 1972 through the collaborative efforts of the Council for Science of the

Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

and the Astronomical Institute of the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in Ondřejov, as one of the institutes of the Geodetic school of the University of Zagreb.

Sources

{{Portal bar, Croatia, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in Croatia Hvar (city) 1972 establishments in Croatia

See also

Sources