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| Other name | Obserwatorium Astronomiczne Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego |
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| Established | 1825 |
| Head | Tomasz Bulik |
| Location | Warsaw ,Poland |
| Website | https://www.astrouw.edu.pl/en/ |
TheAstronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw (Polish:Obserwatorium Astronomiczne Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego) is an institute that conducts research and teaching in astronomy. The Observatory provides astronomy classes forbachelormaster, anddoctorate students. Studenttelescope activities take place at the observing station inOstrowik. The scientific research is conducted in a wide range of topics including two main observing projects that are long-termopticalsky surveys:OGLE andASAS. Both these surveys take sky images using dedicated telescopes located at theLas Campanas Observatory,Chile. Scientific staff takes part in large astrophysical collaborations, bothground-based (H.E.S.S.,CTA, andLIGO/VIRGO) andsatellite (Planck andGaia).[1]
The Observatory building was opened in 1825 and the first director wasFranciszek Armiński. The building is situated inside Botanical Garden University of Warsaw and next toŁazienki Park. Early on, the main equipment of the Observatory weremeridian circles that were used forastrometric observations,geodetic measurements, and time keeping. At the onset of theWorld War I, part of the equipment was moved toRussia.[2]
In 1937, an observing station run by the Observatory was opened at thePip Ivan peak (currently inUkraine) as a part of theWhite Elephant building. The White Elephant was built by theAirborne and Antigas Defence League. The main instrument at this observing station was 33 cmastrograph build by theGrubb Parsons company. The building was abandoned just after theSoviet aggression on Poland in September 1939. There was only a single research paper published based on observations from Pip Ivan and the station was not used for astronomical research later on.[2][3]
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After the Germaninvasion of Poland, the University of Warsaw was closed but the Observatory was re-opened by the occupant. Very limited research was allowed and the main activity was time keeping. During theWarsaw Uprising the Observatory staff was forced to leave Warsaw and the building was burned by German soldiers. In February 1945, the Observatory was re-established inKraków. Over next few years, the building in Warsaw was rebuilt and astronomers moved back. At the same time an observing station was established at Ostrowik village near Warsaw. In 1973 the 60 cm telescope was opened in Ostrowik. The research interests of the Observatory after the World War II changed toastrophysics. The first post-war professors wereWłodzimierz Zonn andStefan Piotrowski (starting in 1950s). Their most well known junior colleague wasBohdan Paczyński.[2]
The Observatory hosted aPDP-11/45 computer from 1975 till 1978. The computer was owned by thePolish Academy of Sciences and it was moved to a newly establishedNicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the PAS.[4]
The observing capabilities of the Observatory astronomers improved significantly with an advancement of theCCD cameras in astronomy. The first CCD camera in Poland was built for Ostrowik 60 cm telescope byAndrzej Udalski in 1991. The next year, Warsaw astronomers led by Andrzej Udalski and supported by Bohdan Paczyński (at thePrinceton University then) started theOGLE project. The OGLE observations were first taken with the Swope telescope at theLas Camapanas Observatory (Chile). In 1996, a 1.3 m telescope dedicated to the OGLE project was opened.[5][6][2] At the same time, another Warsaw astronomer,Grzegorz Pojmański, startedASAS survey, which was an implementation of an idea proposed by Paczyński.[2][6]
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