BYURAKAN OBSERVATORY TO BE EQUIPPED WITH UP-TO-DATE SPECTROGRAPH

ArmInfo
010-03-18 17:00:00

ArmInfo. Byurakan observatory will be equipped with up-to-date
spectrograph.

As Director of the observatory Hayk Harutyunyan said at today’s
press-conference, no more than 10 big observatories of the world have
such spectrographs which allow to determine the rate of movement of
space objects up to 5-10 meters per second. "The astronomic centers
with great funds can afford such spectrographs, for example, Geneva
observatory, which gets $50-100 mln for projects, while Byurakan
observatory receives 60 mln drams a year", he said. Byurakan will
be able to obtain such a spectrometer due to the agreement signed
with the French party. "It is quite possible that it will be a
consortium with participation of not only Switzerland, France and
Armenia but other interested countries as well. We shall observe and
open new exo-planets together with the Europeans, as well as solve
astero-seismological and other tasks", Harutyunyan said.

According to him, cooperation with the European specialists will be
developed also in other directions. In particular, in 2009, a French
company approved 3 projects of Byurakan observatory. Moreover, it
is expected to sign a protocol between Armenian and Italian Foreign
Ministries, that will allow to implement a two-year agreement between
the two country observatories with budget of 250,000 Euro. H.

Harutyunyan also said that active cooperation played a positive part
in popularization of the astrophysicist profession in Armenia.