Crni Vrh Observatory

MPC observatory code 106
Longitude: 14^o 04' 16" East; Latitude: 45^o 56' 45" North; Altitude: 726 m
First Published November 10, 1995

Crni Vrh Observatory is operated by a group of dedicated observers. We run a Comet and Asteroid Search Program named PIKA after a Slovene acronym. For that purpose, we designed and built a 0.6-m, f/3.3 Cichocki telescope (named after B. Cichocki). It is custom made, advanced technology, wide-field imaging system, designed for sky survey applications. Since 2004, it operates as a remote robotic telescope. It nightly scans the sky and returns new discoveries of small Solar System bodies, which sometimes threaten our home planet Earth. Recent software upgrade enable us also discovery of distant cosmic explosions such as supernovae, Gamma Ray Bursts and variable stars. See also our 2 minute video presentation and recent updates of the PIKA project.

2000 and 2010 Shoemaker Grant Recipient

Last Images

	Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) Image of comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), obtained on 2025 Apr. 29 (19h35-19h44UT) with 15-cm, f/6 Maksutov-Cassegrain camera and Canon EOS 6D. Exposure time was 14x30 seconds at ISO 3200. Comet appears to have disintegrated before perihelion. The image shows only a faint cloud of debris without a core. Image scale is 3.0 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2025 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

	Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) Image of comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), obtained on 2025 Apr. 27 (19h37-19h43UT) with 15-cm, f/6 Maksutov-Cassegrain camera and Canon EOS 6D. Exposure time was 9x30 seconds at ISO 3200. Comet appears to have disintegrated before perihelion. I somehow managed to capture it through cirrus clouds, when it was only about 5 degrees above the horizon. The image shows only a faint cloud of debris without a core. Image scale is 3.0 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2025 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

	Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) Image of comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), obtained from Tosko celo (580m) near Ljubljana on 2025 Apr. 9 (3h17-3h20UT) with 20-cm, f/5 reflector and Canon EOS 6D . Exposure time was 10x15 seconds at ISO 800. A faint tail ~0.5 deg. long is visible in PA ~310 deg. Image scale is 2.2 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2025 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

	Priodic Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Image of periodic comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, obtained on 2025 Mar. 18 (20h03-21h03UT) with 20-cm, f/4 Quattro astrocamera and CMOS. Image is a composite of 30x120 second exposures. Image scale is 3.0 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2025 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

	Priodic Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Image of periodic comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, obtained on 2025 Feb. 19 (21h31-22h30UT) with 20-cm, f/4 Quattro astrocamera and CMOS. Image is a composite of 30x120 second exposures. Image scale is 3.0 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2025 by H. Mikuz, Crni Vrh Observatory.

Light Pollution	Night Sky Phenomena	Old DSLR Gallery

Drustvo temno nebo Slovenije

Astronomska revija Spika	Portal v vesolje	Astronomy Picture of the Day

Astronomska revija Spika		Prevod v slovenscino

Observer's Support

Comets

	HORIZONS Ephemeris Generator
	CARA Comet Data Archive

Comet Observers Database (COBS)

Observatories/Observing Programs

	Astronomy Astrophysics at Univ. of Ljubljana
	Astronomical Observatory Golovec
	Rezman Observatory

Metrics and plots from MPEC service.

	MPEC Watch

Asteroids and comets

	IAU Minor Planet Center
	Sky Coverage
	The NEO Confirmation Page
	Possible Comet Confirmation Page
	NEO Rating Page
	Comets in Need for Recovery
	MPC Ephemeris Service
	New Object Ephemeris
	Minor Planet Checker
	NEA Observation Planning Aid
	MPC Database Search
	Identification of satellites from astrometric positions
	MPC Animations Page
	Impact Effects Calculator
	On-line Find_Orb

	Sun and Moon Data 2025 (for Ljubljana)

News

	Fireball with afterglow (Nov. 30, 2024)


	Fireball with about 50 minut afterglow duration was recorded near zenith on 2024 Nov 30th at 22:11:25UT +/-30s, with the all-sky color camera. More ...

	Fireball with afterglow (Nov. 07, 2024)


	Fireball with about 30 minut afterglow duration was recorded over the East on 2024 Nov 7th at 17:27:54UT +/-30s, with the all-sky color camera. More ...