Written by Mateja Dumbovic
Friday, 26 May 2023 12:17
In the scope of the Scientific talks series at Hvar Observatory Zeljko Ivezic from
University of Washington, the director of the
Vera Rubin Observatory project held a seminar on May 24th 2023 at 17:30 CET in hybrid form. The Vera Rubin Observatory, previously referred to as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), is an astronomical observatory currently under construction in Chile. Its main task will be carrying out a synoptic astronomical survey. The video of the seminar is available
online here.
Read more: Seminar by Željko Ivezić at Hvar Observatory
Written by Jaša Čalogović
Wednesday, 19 April 2023 19:05
We are organizing open days on Hvar from
22 to 29 April 2023 on the occasion of the
Science Festival 2023 with the theme "Nature and Society". In the period from 24 to 28 April 2023, smaller groups of kids will have the opportunity to visit the Observatory on Hvar, see the telescopes, observe the Sun and take part in demonstrations prepared by the staff of the Hvar Observatory. On Saturdays, 22 and 29 April the Observatory will also be open to the general public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Additionally, the staff will also organize public night sky observations in Hvar, Stari Grad and Jelsa. (further text is in Croatian)
Read more: Open days of the Hvar Observatory and Science Festival 2023
Written by Mateja Dumbovic
Saturday, 01 October 2022 12:00

European Space Weather Week (ESWW) is the main annual event in the European Space Weather calendar. It is an international meeting organised annually within the European Region in collaboration with prominent members of the European space weather community. It began as a forum for the European Space Weather community and has since grown into an international event with global attendance. This year ESWW will be co-organised by the
Belgian Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence and Hvar Observatory
October 24-28, 2022 in Zagreb, Croatia.
ESWW2022 will again adopt the central aim of bringing together the diverse groups in Europe working on different aspects of Space Weather and Space Climate: such as scientists, engineers, satellite operators, power grid technicians, communication and navigation specialists, people working in aviation, space weather service providers, STEM practitioners. The ESWW is highly interdisciplinary by nature and actively promotes investigation of new technologies and approaches. In addition, ESWW is an excellent place to meet people, to exchange knowledge and ideas, to discuss the latest on solar activity, how space weather influences the earth environment and our technologies, and how to deal with space weather. The overarching theme for ESWW2022 is ‘
The importance of comprehensive space weather monitoring’, with a number of session topics.
>> ESWW webpage
Written by Jaša Čalogović
Monday, 11 April 2022 12:53
The Hvar Observatory is the only observatory in Croatia that deals entirely with professional astrophysics and is not open to the general public due to its predominantly research purpose. The Hvar Observatory is organizing open days on Hvar from
4 to 7 May 2022 on the occasion of the
Science Festival 2022 with the theme "Life" and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of its founding. In the period from 4 to 6 May 2022, smaller groups of preschool and school children will have the opportunity to visit the Observatory on Hvar, see the telescopes, observe the sun and take part in demonstrations prepared by the staff of the Hvar Observatory. On Saturday, May 7, 2022 the Observatory will also be open to the general public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In addition to the open day of the Hvar Observatory, the staff of the Hvar Observatory will also participate with various demonstrations at the
Science Festival in Zagreb on 2 and 3 May 2022.
Read more: Science Festival 2022 and open days of the Hvar Observatory
Written by Mateja Dumbovic
Friday, 01 April 2022 08:25
A recent study by S. F. Odenwald from NASA/GSFC has shown that smartphone magnetometers can detect geomagnetic storms: “Smartphone magnetometers are being commercially explored for applications as diverse as locating customers in shopping malls for targeted advertising, to precision needle-guided surgery. Meanwhile, Earth’s geomagnetic field, whose measurement forms the basis for precision positing monitoring, varies on many timescales with significant amplitudes. This presents a challenge for high-precision position sensing that demands stability in the local geomagnetic field at the microTesla-level over timescales of minutes to hours. This study shows that many smartphone models have the sensitivity to detect geomagnetic storms caused by space weather, which means that under certain circumstances, geomagnetic storms could be a significant source of error in compass and other positioning applications. ” [Odenwald 2022]
Written by Jaša Čalogović
Monday, 28 March 2022 11:39
Recently published Brajša et al. 2022 paper “
A prediction for the 25th solar cycle maximum amplitude“ was chosen for the
cover page of the March issue of the Astronomische Nachrichten journal.
Figure at the cover page shows the smoothed monthly sunspot number in solar cycle maxima as a function of the same quantity three years before the preceding solar minimum, for solar cycles number 1–24. Least-square fits obtained with and without the peculiar solar cycle no. 19 are presented as blue and red solid lines, respectively. Dashed lines represent uncertainty of the fits. The location of solar cycle no. 19 is represented by the filled circle, while all other cycles are represented with open circles. Knowing that the last solar minimum was in December 2019, this correlation allows a prediction of the amplitude of solar cycle 25: Rmax = 121 ± 33. Brajša et al. analysis indicates that the next solar maximum will be of the similar amplitude as the previous one, or even something lower.
Written by Mateja Dumbovic
Friday, 18 March 2022 13:26
Prof. Eugene N. Parker, a solar physics legend who first proposed the concept of the solar wind and is thus a namesake of the Parker Solar Probe mission passed away on 15 March at the age of 94. His great contributions to the field of solar physics were summarized in the obituary published by the University of Chicago:
“Parker was internationally known for proposing the concept of the solar wind—an idea that was first met with skepticism to outright ridicule. The theory was later proven to be correct, reshaping our picture of space and the solar system. Parker went on to revolutionize the field of astrophysics, unraveling the complex physics behind magnetic fields in space and the dynamics of plasma. In August 2018, at the age of 91, he became the first person to witness the launch of their namesake spacecraft.
Read more: Eugene Parker (1927-2022), a solar physics legend
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