Assy-Turgen Observatory

Assy-Turgen Observatory
	Domes of 1-meter and 1.5-meter reflectors at Assy-Turgen
Observatory code	217
Location	Assy-Turgen, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan
Coordinates	43°13′31″N 77°52′18″E / 43.22524°N 77.87164°ECoordinates: 43°13′31″N 77°52′18″E / 43.22524°N 77.87164°E
Altitude	2,750 metres (9,020 ft)
Telescopes
1.5-m AZT-20 telescope
1.5-m AZT-20 telescope	1.5 m Cassegrain reflector
1-m Zeiss-1000 telescope	1 m Ritchey–Chrétien reflector
NUTTelA-TAO	700 mm Modified Dall-Kirkham (CDK) reflector
	Location of Assy-Turgen Observatory
	Related media on Wikimedia Commons
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Assy-Turgen Observatory (ATO), Full name: Academician Omarov Assy-Turgen Observatory,^[1] is an astronomical observatory located in the Assy-Turgen region not far from Almaty, Kazakhstan, within a national park.^[2] The nearest city is Esik. The observatory is operated by the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute. Time zone is GMT+6.

General information[]

The observatory, referred to as the Assy-Turgen Observatory, the Assy Observatory, and the Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory, is located at an altitude of 2,750 metres (9,020 ft) above sea level, 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Almaty. ^[1]

The process of building began in 1975. The first observations took place in 1981 via telescope - Zeiss-1000. In the beginning of 80s of the last century the process of building of 1.5-m telescope dome began. The dome was 45 meters (148 ft) in height, but due to total crisis (because of Soviet Union collapse) the process of building was frozen in 1992 and only 22 years latter in 2014 continued. In 2015 main (parabolic) mirror with diameter 1.5 meters (61 in) was installed on the telescope AZT-20. First light AZT-20 saw in October 2016. Since 2017 at the regular exploitation. ^[3]

The Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope (CDK-700) at Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory (NUTTelA-TAO) was installed during 2018 at

43°13′35″N 77°52′22″E / 43.2264588°N 77.8726675°E.

According to the website of the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute, the observatory has low turbulence—i.e., good astronomical seeing.^[4]

On the territory of the Assy-Turgen observatory, the average FWHM value is <2 ″, which is considered the best astroclimatic conditions in Kazakhstan. High transparency and low turbulence of air masses, absence of light pollution create favorable conditions for observational astrophysics.^[5]

Instruments[]

Telescope Carl Zeiss-1000[]

Type: reflector

Optical system: Ritchey–Chrétien

Main mirror diameter: D = 1016 mm

Equivalent focal length: F = 13300 mm

English mount

Year of exploitation beginning: 1981

Equipment: slit spectrograph UAGS, set of BVR-filters for photometry, CCD-cameras (SBIG ST-7, SBIG ST-8)

Current status: no observations, under reconstruction

^[1]

Telescope AZT-20[]

Type: reflector

Optical system: Cassegrain

Main mirror diameter: D = 1560 mm

Focal length with focus corrector: F = 5720 mm

Maximal possible field of view: FOW = 60 х 60 arc min

German type equatorial mount

Year of exploitation beginning: 2017

Equipment: CCD-camera for photometry FLI Pro LIne with g’r’i’z’ - filters. In 2021 are planned to install a spectrograph with volume-phase gratings (VPH).

Current status: regular observations take place

^[1]