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/2009 P1 (Garradd) True color image of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd), obtained on 2012 Mar. 28 (1h25-1h47UT) with 60-cm, f/3.3 Deltagraph telescope, LBVR filters and CCD. Exposure time was 6x40 sec in each filter. Image scale is 3.75 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2012 by H. Mikuz, Črni Vrh Observatory.

	Venus-Jupiter Conjunction on March 14, 2012 This color image of Venus-Jupiter conjunction on March 14, 2012 was obtained from the Zilja valley near the town Reisach (about 80 km west of Villach) with relatively dark western sky. A faint cone of zodiacal light spans from horizon toward the Pleides star cluster. Image was obtained on 2012 Mar. 14 (18h14UT) with Canon EOS 20D camera and 17mm, f/4 lens. Exposure time was 60 seconds at ISO 1600. Copyright © 2012 by H. Mikuž, Črni Vrh Observatory.

	Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) True color image of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd), obtained on 2012 Mar. 3 (2h22-2h40UT) with 60-cm, f/3.3 Deltagraph telescope, LBVR filters and CCD. Exposure time was 6x30 sec in each filter. Image scale is 3.75 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2012 by H. Mikuz, Črni Vrh Observatory. High resolution TIFF image (scale 1.25 arc sec/pixel) (33 MB)

	Comet C/2012 E1 (Hill) False color unfiltered image of comet C/2012 E1 (Hill), obtained on 2012 Mar. 3 (2h45-3h05UT) with 60-cm, f/3.3 Deltagraph telescope and CCD. Exposure time was 10x120 seconds. Image scale is 1.25 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2012 by H. Mikuz, Črni Vrh Observatory.

	Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) True color image of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd), obtained on 2012 Feb. 25 (3h39-3h54UT) with 60-cm, f/3.3 Deltagraph telescope, LBVR filters and CCD. Exposure time was 5x30 sec in each filter. Image scale is 3.75 arc sec/pixel. Copyright © 2012 by H. Mikuz, Črni Vrh Observatory. High resolution TIFF image (scale 1.25 arc sec/pixel) (34 MB)

Astronomy Picture of the Day	Light Pollution in Slovenia	DSLR and Webcam Imaging

Prevod v slovenščino	Svetlobno onesnaženje	DSLR and Webcam Imaging

Observer's Support

Comets

	Recent Comet Discoveries
	Ephemeris of Observable Comets
	HORIZONS Ephemeris Generator
	Comet Brightness Estimates - (ICQ)
	CARA Comet Data Archive
	Catalogue of Comet Discoveries

Comet Observers Database (COBS)

Observatories/Observing Programs

	Astronomy Astrophysics at Univ. of Ljubljana
	Astronomical Observatory Golovec
	Rezman Observatory
	MBK Team
	Teja Fabjan
	Venus Transit 2004
	Mednarodnoo leto astronomije 2009

Asteroids

	IAU Minor Planet Center
	Sky Coverage
	The NEO Confirmation Page
	NEO Rating Page
	106 NEOs Follow-Up
	Comets in Need for Recovery
	NeoDys Site
	MPC Ephemeris Service
	New Object Ephemeris
	MPChecker
	NEO and Comet Checker
	NEA Observation Planning Aid
	Identification of satellites from astrometric positions
	MPC Animations Page
	Asteroid/Comet Connection
	Impact Effects Calculator

	Sun and Moon Data 2012 (for Ljubljana)

Supernovae

	CBAT "Transient Objects Confirmation Page"
	List of Recent Supernovae
	NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive

Libraries

Univ. of Ljubljana, Astronomical Library

News

	Detection of optical afterglow of GRB 120326A at Črni Vrh Observatory (March 26, 2012)


	We observed optical afterlow of Gamma Ray Burst GRB 120326A (Swift trigger 518626) using 60-cm Cichocki robotic telescope at Črni Vrh Observatory. After the initial burst, the afterglow dropped by 1.3 magnitude and continued with semi-periodic variations in time scale of minutes. More ...

	Discovery of supernova 2012aw = PSN J10435372+1140177 in M95 = NGC 3351 (March 20, 2012)


	A supernova of magnitude about R = 13 was discovered by J. Skvarč on four 60 s CCD images taken on 2012 Mar. 17.90UT from the Črni Vrh Observatory More ...

	Discovery of a NEO Asteroids 2011 YW1 and 2011 YQ1 (Dec. 18, 2011)

	On 2011 December 18.03UT, two NEO asteroids (2011 YW1 and 2011 YQ1) were discovered on images taken by Jure Skvarč in the scope of PIKA sky survey program at Črni Vrh Observatory. More ...

Crni Vrh Observatory Online

Last Night Sky Image

Extinction and Sky Brightness

Webcam

Comet Observation Database

Fireball from All-Sky Camera

Recorded 2012 Feb. 21, (23:58:59UT)
2011 Events Archive

Bright Comets Collection

C/1995 01 (Hale-Bopp)

C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)