Hvar Observatory organized for the third time the Festival of Science in Hvar

Written by Jaša Čalogović Sunday, 07 May 2017 00:00

From 25th to 27th April in the town Loggia, together with the Hvar Primary School, Split Institute of Oceanography and Fishery and Hvar High School the Festival of Science was organized for the third time in Hvar. The theme of 15th Science Festival was "time" in a chronological or meteorological sense.

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Hvar Observatory in VarSITI newsletter

Written by Jaša Čalogović Tuesday, 28 March 2017 13:28

In the VarSITI Newsletter Vol. 12 (February 2017), an overview paper on the role of the Hvar Observatory in establishing the Work Group 2 (WG2) of the ISEST project was published (B. Vršnak: "An introduction on ISEST: Working Group on Theory"). As a leader of WG2, B. Vršnak emphasized the importance of the ISEST (International Study of Earth-Affecting Solar Transients) kick-off meeting held at Hvar in June 2013, and summarized the main objectives, tasks and current research activities of WG2.

Public lecture about Space Weather for Rotary Club Zagreb

Written by Jaša Čalogović Tuesday, 28 March 2017 12:43

On March 21, 2017, Bojan Vršnak gave in Hotel Esplanade Zagreb a public lecture on the space weather for the Rotary Club Zagreb. In the lecture entitled "Space Weather: How to Predict Solar Storms?" ('Svemirska meteorologija': Kako predvidjeti Sunčeve oluje?), he presented basic space-weather objectives, as well as the related research activity at the Hvar Observatory.

Mateja Dumbović obtained Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship

Written by Mateja Dumbovic Tuesday, 21 March 2017 14:46

In the scope of individual fellowships of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions within EU programme HORIZON 2020 (standard European fellowships – physics panel) project "Forbush decrease model for expanding CMEs affecting Earth and Mars (ForbMod)" by M. Dumbović was accepted for funding. The subject of the project research are depressions in the galactic cosmic ray flux during solar storms (so called Forbush decreases) and the project aim is to develop a new analytical model which would explain these phenomena and compare model results with observation at Earth and Mars. The project will utilize a number of ground-based as well as spacecraft measurements including the Curiosity rover at Mars. M. Dumbović will implement this two-tear project at the University of Graz under supervision of Dr. Manuela Temmer and in collaboration with Dr. Christian Möstl from the Space Research Institute in Graz and Dr. Bernd Heber and Dr. Jingnan Guo from the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel. A short overview of the evaluation results (Flash Call Information) is available at the EU participant portal.

Bojan Vršnak as guest in Croatian TV show "Third Element"

Written by Jaša Čalogović Tuesday, 22 November 2016 00:00

On November 17, 2016 Dr. Bojan Vršnak participated in the Croatian scientific TV show (HRT-3: "Third Element") entitled "Solar System". In the show, he explained the formation and evolution of the Sun, effects of the solar wind and the solar eruptive processes on the Earth and other objects in the solar system. Various solar-activity effects on the robotic and crewed space missions, including the future missions to Mars, were discussed. 

Video of TV show "Third element" on 17.11.2016 is available here (only in Croatian)

CORAMOD meeting in Zagreb

Written by Jaša Čalogović Tuesday, 15 November 2016 00:00

The final CORAMOD project meeting was held at the Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb from 7.-11. November 2016 where the following CORAMOD members participated: Konstantin Herbst, Adrian Vogt, Mateja Dumbović, Bojan Vršnak and Jaša Čalogović. On Thursday, 10. November 2016 Konstantin Herbst held a public lecture at Zagreb Observatory with the title: "Cosmogenic radionuclides - the quest of studying the solar activity over past 10,000 years". During the meeting in Zagreb discussions about upcoming papers that should be soon submitted and further plans for upcoming projects and collaborations were made.

Visit of the Dean to Hvar Observatory

Written by Jaša Čalogović Monday, 03 October 2016 12:35

On Moday, September 26, the Dean of the Faculty of Geodesy, prof. Damir Medak arrived to Hvar and visited Hvar Observatory to get a closer insight into activities and the life at the Observatory. Hrvoje Božić, Bojan Vršnak and Toni Visković showed the Dean solar and stellar telescopes, explained the scientific programs and strategies of the Observatory and briefed him about some infrastructural problems.

XIVth Hvar Astrophysical Colloquium

Written by Jaša Čalogović Sunday, 15 May 2016 00:00

XIVth Hvar Astrophysical Colloquium "Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics: Now and in the future" will be organized from 26 to 30 September 2016 in Hvar, Croatia. The scientific sessions will include following topics: Observing techniques, Campaigns and Databases, Activity of Sun and Solar-Like Stars, Eruptive Processes in the Solar Atmosphere, Solar-Terrestrial Connection and the Heliosphere, Space Weather and Space Climate Forecasting. Abstract submission (deadline 15 July 2016) and early registration (150 EUR, deadline 1 September 2016) are now open. It is possible to apply for financial support covered trough SCOSTEP-VarSiti grant for accommodation and/or registration fee (deadline 15 June 2016).

Scientific programme

Mercury transit observed at the Hvar Observatory, 09.05.2016

Written by Jaša Čalogović Tuesday, 10 May 2016 00:00

The transits of Mercury across the solar disk are rare phenomena, although Mercury orbits the Sun in just 88 days. The reason for this is that Mercury orbits the Sun with the certain angle to the ecliptic, ie. the plane that the Earth orbits the Sun. Mercury transit in Croatia was visible on 9 May 2016, started at 13:12h local time and could be seen for almost 7 hours. Unfortunately, end of transit was not visible from our region because the sunset was at 20:10h and end of transit was at 20:42h. This rare phenomena was possible to observe from Hvar, and it was recoreded in white light and H-alpha using Hvar solar telescope. The next transit of Mercury will be visible from the Croatia in 2019.

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Mateja Dumbović received the national fellowship ”For Women in Science”

Written by Jaša Čalogović Thursday, 05 May 2016 18:14

On April 27th 2016 fellowships of the national program "For Women in Science" were awarded for the 10th time, organized by L'ORÉAL ADRIA d.o.o. and Croatian commission for UNESCO at Ministry of culture, under sponsorship of Croatian academy of sciences and arts and supported by the Croatian Rectors' conference. Among the four young female scientists awarded with this prestigious fellowship is Mateja Dumbović from Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb for the research she did during her PhD studies that resulted in her thesis "Analysis and forecasting of coronal mass ejection space weather effects" (supervised by dr. sc. Bojan Vršnak). The ceremony was attended by many esteemed guests, among others the Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and the news was greatly covered by Croatian press.

Read more: Mateja Dumbović received the national fellowship ”For Women in Science”