IRIDA OBSERVATORY

(in operation)

ELATE OBSERVATORY

(in design and administrative procedures)

IRIDA OBSERVATORY was built by the joint efforts of

Velimir Popov and Emil Ivanov

and

with the support of Institute of Astronomy with Rozhen National Observatory. Special thanks to Dr. Nikola Petrov and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tanyu Bonev for their invaluable help!

The idea for building remotely controlled domes was born in November, 2011. The construction of the concrete basement was finished in August, 2012. At the end of September, 2012 the domes arrived from company ScopeDome - Poland. The mounting of the domes, mechanical and electronic parts, was finished on 20-th of October, 2012. Now the observatory whith its two remotely controlled domes and telescopes is in operation.

The first light of IRIDA OBSERVATORY can be seen below:

Emission Nebula IC 410

This observatory is still on design and administrative procedures

Further down is panoramic view from the place where I intend to build another one remotely controlled observatory. It is located about 20 km in a straight line from the border of Sofia, the city where I live. Unfortunately, Sofia like most of European cities is terribly light polluted urban zone. My spot is behind small mountains and combinations with altitude of 1220 m above see level will give me relatively clear and dark nights...