Quarter of all comets discovered between 1946 and 1959 were found from High Tatras observatories.
Of the 70 comets discovered between 1946 and 1959 worldwide, 18 were first seen at the observatories on the Skalnaté Pleso mountain lake and the Lomnický Štít peak in the High Tatras.
The discoveries led to then Czechoslovakia being declared a “comet superpower” at the 1954 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Rome, says Ján Svoreň, an astronomer and science communicator from the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
On 8 August, observatories on Skalnaté Pleso and Lomnický Štít will hold an open day, allowing visitors a unique opportunity to get a glimpse into the work of astronomers and learn about the instruments they use. Admission is free. Find out more here.
“The international reaction to these discoveries was exceptional,” he tells The Slovak Spectator.
