Sopot Astronomical Observatory
Satellite imagery: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics
About 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, the Sopot Astronomical Observatory has quietly become one of the world's most productive amateur asteroid-hunting stations since it went online in 2013, built almost single-handedly by its founder, Vladimir Benishek.
About Sopot Astronomical Observatory
Vladimir Benishek founded the observatory using a secondhand 0.36-metre (14-inch) telescope and CCD camera, paid for out of his own savings with help from his mother. From the start it was designed as a remote facility, with a roll-off roof and automated telescope controls that let it run largely unattended.
History
The observatory came online in 2013 and quickly turned to serious science: measuring the positions of asteroids and comets and submitting the data to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center. In 2014 it joined an international binary-asteroid survey and, over the following three years, racked up the second-most binary-asteroid discoveries of any observatory in the world, work recognised by The Planetary Society.
Telescopes & research
A $9,500 grant later allowed the observatory to acquire a 61-centimetre (24-inch) mirror set for a new, larger telescope, building on the original 14-inch instrument's asteroid- and comet-astrometry programme.
Location & getting there
The observatory sits near the town of Sopot, roughly 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, Serbia, in the rolling countryside of central Serbia.
Visiting Sopot Astronomical Observatory
As a small, remotely operated research station, Sopot Astronomical Observatory does not appear to run public tours; anyone interested in visiting should check for current contact details before travelling.
See your named star from here
Every star named through star-register.eu is given precise right ascension and declination, and a telescope like the one at Sopot, already tuned for pinpoint astrometry, is exactly the kind of instrument that could be aimed at those coordinates. Explore our star catalogue or choose a naming package.
Opening hours and public-visit programs vary by season. Check Google Maps for current times before you travel.
