BVRI photometric calibration of the Nedeljkovic telescope

We have done photometric calibration of the 60 cm Nedeljkovic telescope equipped with the FLI PL 230 CCD camera, mounted at the Astronomical Station Vidojevica (Serbia), using standard stars from the Landolt catalog. We have imaged 31 fields of standard stars using Johnson's BVRI filters during three nights in August 2019. We have measured both extinction and color correction. Relating our calibrated magnitudes to the magnitudes of standard stars from the Landolt catalog, we have achieved accuracy of 2%-5% for the BVRI magnitudes.

The physical and dynamical characteristics of the asteroid 4940 Polenov

The asteroid (1986 QY4) 4940 Polenov is the first Solar system object whose 3D shape is determined using the observations from the newly built Astronomical Station Vidojevica (ASV). Here we present the results of photometric observations for Polenov, gathered from the ASV, and from the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory (BNAO) Rozhen, during 2014, 2019 and 2020 apparitions. Polenov is a 17.8km object located in the outer part of the main belt and belongs to the asteroid family Themis. We have determined the lightcurves, the synodic period of 4.161?0.001 h, as well as the solution for the shape and spin axis. Using the lightcurve inversion method, the combination of our lightcurves and the sparse data from ATLAS{HKO and ATLAS-MLO, we also found the sidereal period, indicating a retrograde rotation of the asteroid, with two possible mirrored pole solutions. The ratio of the largest to smallest reecting surface is about 1.4. In addition, we studied the dynamical properties of the asteroid and obtained a long stability time that exceeds 0.4 Gyrs.

The Forecast of Space Weather According to Ground-Based Observatories

The space weather forecast can be conditionally divided into three components: 1) The forecast of recurrent slowly varying events which are associated with the topology of a large-scale magnetic field; 2) Evaluation of fluxes of ultraviolet and extreme radiation; 3) Detecting and determining the parameters of eruptions and CME. All three components can be observed and evaluated by ground-based telescopes. In this article we describe the telescopes of the space weather service in Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station. Telescope-magnetograph STOP for the forecast of recurrent events and patrol telescopes-spectrographs for detecting CME and estimating hard radiation fluxes.

Gaia science alerts and the observing facilities of the Serbian-Bulgarian mini-network telescopes

The astrometric European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia mission was launched in December 19, 2013. One of the tasks of the Gaia mission is production of an astrometric catalog of over one billion stars and more than 500000 extragalactic sources. The quasars (QSOs), as extragalactic sources and radio emitters, are active galactic nuclei objects (AGNs) whose coordinates are well determined via Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique and may reach sub-milliarcsecond accuracy. The QSOs are the defining sources of the quasi-inertial International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) because of their core radio morphology, negligible proper motions (until sub-milliarcsecond per year), and apparent point-like nature. Compact AGNs, visible in optical domain, are useful for a direct link of the future Gaia optical reference frame with the most accurate radio one. Apart from the above mentioned activities, Gaia has other goals such as follow-up of transient objects. One of the most important Gaia's requirements for photometric alerts is a fast observation and reduction response, that is, submition of observations within 24 hours. For this reason we have developed a pipeline. In line with possibilities of our new telescope (D(cm)/F(cm)=60/600) at the Astronomical Station Vidojevica (ASV, of the Astronomical Observatory in Belgrade), we joined the Gaia-Follow-Up Network for Transients Objects (Gaia-FUN-TO) for the photometric alerts. Moreover, in view of the cooperation with Bulgarian colleagues (in the frst place, SV), one of us (GD) initiated a local mini-network of Serbian { Bulgarian telescopes useful for the Gaia-FUN-TO and other astronomical purposes. During the next year we expect a new 1.4 m telescope at ASV site. The speed of data processing (from observation to calibration server) could be one day. Here, we present an overview of our activities in the Gaia-FUN-TO which includes establishing Serbian { Bulgarian mini-network (of five telescopes at three sites, ASV in Serbia, Belogradchik and Rozhen in Bulgaria), the Gaia-FUN-TO test observations, and some results.