›5th Byurakan International Summer School For Young Astronomers

Fifth Byurakan International Summer School dedicated to Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory’s 70th Anniversary will take place in Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory on 12-23 September, 2016. The LOC and SOC invite you to join this meeting to follow the lectures of wide range of astrophysical topics, discussion of hot topics of Astronomy and get practical and observational experience. English is the working language of the school. Lectures will be given by experienced scientists and observers, covering a range of topics from Ground-based Telescopes and Modern Observational Techniques, to Archaeoastronomy and Astronomical Heritage. The students will also be given chance to give a short oral presentations. All the local expenses will be covered by the organizers and limited travel grants will be offered. The participants of the school can also participate to the Meeting dedicated to Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory 70th Anniversary and Award Ceremony of Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize.

The previous Byurakan International Summer Schools were held in 2006, 2008, 2010 (the last one combined with the IAU ISYA-2010), 2012 and each time attracted several dozens of students from Albania, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and Armenia. Famous scientists from the USA (Daniel Weedman, Robert Williams, Lev Titarchuk, Kam-Ching Leung, Leslie Sage, Don Barry), Germany (Dieter Engels, Lutz Wisotzki, Tigran Arshakian), France (Daniel Kunth, Michel Dennefeld, Gary Mamon, Georges Alecian, Philippe Prugniel, Alain Sarkissian, Mustapha Meftah), Italy (Massimo Turatto, Corinne Rossi, Riccardo Claudi), Spain (Garik Israelian), Belgium (Jean-Pierre De Greve), Russia (Gennady Bisnovatyi-Kogan, Sergei Dodonov, Igor Chilingarian, Aleksei Moiseev), Australia (John (Hovhannes) Sarkissian), Dr. Georges Alecian (OBSPM, France), Estonia (Jaan Einasto), USA (Richard Lovelace), India (Jayant Narlikar), Russia (Igor Novikov) and USA (Yervant Terzian) as well as Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, Yerevan State University (YSU), Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) scientists Areg Mickaelian, Tigran Magakian, Tigran Movsessian, Elena Nikogossian, Ashot Chilingarian, Artashes Petrosian, Haik Harutyunian, Lusine Sargsyan, and Avetis Sadoyan have been the lecturers.

Armenia is one of the cradles of ancient science, including the astronomical knowledge. It is believed that the division of the sky into constellations was made few thousand years ago in the Armenian Highland. Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is a modern astronomical centre, one of the most famous observatories in the former Soviet Union, as well as the Euro-Asian Continent. The Observatory is also scientific tourism attraction. It was founded in 1946 by outstanding scientist Viktor Ambartsumian. New ideas on birth and evolution of stars and nebulae in stellar associations, activity of galactic nuclei, new theoretical approaches have been developed by him. Stellar associations, numerous active galaxies and quasars, flare and T Tau type stars, Novae and Supernovae, and many other objects have been discovered in Byurakan. The famous Byurakan surveys have been conducted here as well. Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is actively involved in international collaboration with some hundred observatories from dozens of countries. A number of scientific meetings have been organized here, including the International Astronomical Union 6 Symposia and Colloquia. High politicians, Nobel Prize winners and other outstanding scientists, many other honorable guests have visited Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory. At present, the Observatory has 95 associates, including 45 astronomers. Due to new approaches and seminal scientific results the Byurakan astronomers have achieved high reputation and Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is recognized by the scientific community as one of the main centres for astrophysical research. The conceptions and ideas proposed in Byurakan have found their further elaboration in many observatories, the new objects discovered in Byurakan are observed worldwide by famous astrophysicists.