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INSTITUTE OF ASTROPHYSICS OF THE TAJIK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Institute of Astrophysics of the Tajik Academy of Sciences was created in 1958 on the base of the Tajik Astronomical Observatory (founded in 1932). It consisted of three departments: Department of meteor astronomy, Department of comets, and Department of
variable stars. Afterwards the Department of ionosphere, Department of the structure and dynamics of stellar systems, Laboratory of
experimental astrophysics, and Department of astrometry were created. The main scientific fields of investigation are physics and dynamics of
asteroids, comets and meteors, variable stars, stellar systems and
observations of artificial Earth
satellites.
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The employees of the Stalinabad Astronomical Observatory; December 1950.
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Some 30 years after the creation of the Institute, three its modern observational bases were
build:
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The Hissar astronomical observatory
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1. In 1963-1971 the Hissar astronomical observatory (HissAO) was build at a distance 14 km
southwest from Dushanbe. It domes house: a 70-cm reflector supplied with
electronoptical, electrophotometric and polarimetric receiving apparatus, intended for
observations of variable stars and comets; a 40-cm Zeiss astrograph for
observations of asteroids, comets and variable stars; a 20-cm refractor and double astrograph. The observatory is also equipped with a
highprecision astronomical camera (D=1 m, F=0.75 m) for photographic observation of artificial Earth satellites, comets and meteors. One of largest photographic meteor patrol is established in Hissar
observatory. It consist of 16 wide-field cameras MK-75 (F=75 cm D/F=1:3.5) and 24 cameras MK-25 (F=25 cm, D/F=1:2.5). Observa-tions of meteors are carried out also using TV and fireball cameras equipped
with"fish-eye" lenses.
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The 40-cm Zeiss astrograph
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AZT-8, a 70-cantimeter reflector for polarization and electrophotometric
observations of stars in broad and narrow regions of the spectrum |
2. Sanglokh Observatory, the construction of which was completed in 1980, is located
southwest of Dushanbe at a distance of about 90 km. It was build at the top of Sanglokh Mountain, the
astroclimatic conditions of which have been widely recognized (Table 1). A Ritchey-Chretien 1-m telescope equipped with a spectrograph "UAGS", and photometer-polarimeter were set up at this observatory. A assembling of a 60-cm Zeiss telescope is waiting its
completion.
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The tower of the Ritchey-Chretien 1-m Zeiss telescope in the Sanglokh observatory |
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Dome of the 60-cm Zeiss telescope in the Sanglokh observatory
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3. Pamir High-Mountain Observatory, socalled "Solar ground-based astronomical complex "Pamir" (situated at an altitude of 4350 m above sea level and enjoying 250 clear nights per year). It is
located in the Murgab district (East Pamir) of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. There a 70-cm telescope RT 700 (with Cassegrain optical system) and solar telescope are installed. Pamir observatory, with its unique astroclimate, is an excellent
longterm site for astronomical submillimeter, IR and optical observations. There the average annual precipitation is less than 100 mm per year; monthly average
windspeed is about 6 m/s; the brightness of the night sky in the V-band is less than 22 mg/sq.sec.
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Lake Sarez
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The basic astroclimatic characteristics of the astronomical observatories of Tajikistan are given in Table 1 in comparison to the data for some other observatories.
Table 1. ASTROCLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL
OBSERVATORIES OF TAJIKISTAN AND SOME COUNTRIES
| Observatory |
Longitude |
Latitude |
H |
N |
A" |
P |
| Sanglokh (Tajikistan) |
69.0 |
38.2 |
2300 |
1700 |
0.54 |
0.78 |
| Pamir (Tajikistan) |
74 |
38 |
4350 |
1820 |
0.54 |
0.86 |
| HissAO (Tajikistan) |
68.6 |
38.5 |
730 |
1620 |
2.10 |
0.72 |
| La Silla (Chile) |
-70.7 |
-29.3 |
2347 |
2300 |
0.60 |
0.78 |
| Crimea(Ukraine) |
34.0 |
44.6 |
600 |
1219 |
2.12 |
0.73 |
| Kit Peak (USA) |
-111.6 |
32.0 |
2120 |
2400 |
1.20 |
0.78 |
| Mt. Palomar (USA) |
-116.9 |
33.4 |
1706 |
2100 |
2.00 |
0.80 |
H - height in metres above sea level; N - number of the astronomical hours per year; A" - astroclimatic index (image quality in arc sec), P - optical transmission factor of the atmosphere.
Now, there are 60 employees at the Institute; about 30 of them are scientific workers and engineers, including 4 doctors (Dr. Sci.) and 8 candidates (PhD) of physical and mathematical sciences. One of employees is a Full Member (Academician) of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences and two of them are the Correspondent
Members of the Academy.
For advance in astronomical researches, the Institute of Astro-physics of the Tajik Academy of Sciences was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner, one of minor planet is named "Tajikistan" (2469), and another as "HissAO" (2746). Seven minor planets (namely, "Babadzhanov" (7164), "Bakharev" (4011), "Chernova" (4207), "Dobrovoleva" (3013), "Gerasimenko" (3945), "Ibadinov" (3436), and "Kiselev" (4206)), and two comets (namely, C/1955 N1 Bakharev-Macfarlane-Krienke, and 67P/1969 R1 Churyumov-Gersimenko) have been called after the names of the scientists of the Institute of Astrophysics, Tajik Academy of Sciences.
Below we list some important scientific results received in the Institute of Astrophysics, Tajik Academy of Sciences, lately.
Address: Institute of Astrophysics, Tajik Academy of Sciences,
Bukhoro Str. 22,
Dushanbe 734042 TAJIKISTAN
Phones: +(992372) 23 14 32
E-mail: astro@ac.tajik.net
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