THE INI "YUGOSLAVIA" BRANCH
The Isaac Newton Institute opened its Branch in Serbia in April 2002. The formal agreement has been signed with Milan S. Dimitrijevic Director of the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory.
The staff of the Isaac Newton Institute in Belgrade are: Edi Bon, Natasa Bon, Srdjan Z. Bukvic, Zorica Cvetkovic, Miodrag Dacic, Milan S. Dimitrijevic, Stevan I. Djenize, Gojko R. Djurasevic, Sanja R. Erkapic, Ljubinko M. Ignjatovic, Dragana Ilic, Darko Jevremovic, Predrag Jovanovic, Andjelka Kovacevic, Jelena Kovacevic, Aleksandar Dj. Kubicela, Anatolij A. Mihajlov, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Nenad Milovanovic, Slobodan Ninkovic, Dragomir Olevic, Luka Ch. Popovic, Srdjan S. Samurovic, Zoran Simic, Aleksandar Sreckovic, Vladimir Sreckovic, Marko Stalevski, Natasa M. Stanic, Dragana Tankosic and Sonja Vidojevic. The staff of the INI Branch in Serbia includes representatives of Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, Faculty of Physics of the Belgrade University and Institute of Physics. The resident directyor of the Branch is Milan S. Dimitrijevic.
The principal astronomical institution in Serbia is the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, one of the oldest scientific organizations and the unique autonomous astronomical institute in Serbia. Its past development forms an important part of the history of science and culture in these regions. The decree of its founding conjointly with the Meteorological Observatory was signed on 20 March (7 April) 1887 by the Minister of Education and Church Affaires of Kingdom of Serbia Milan Kujundzic on the initiative of Milan Nedeljkovic (Belgrade 27. Sept. 1857 - Belgarde 27 Dec. 1950), a professor of the Grand School (Belgarde University). Nedeljkovic was appointed first director of the newly founded Observatory. He governed Observatory until 1924, with a small break when 1899-1900 Director was Djordje Stanojevic (Negotin, 7 April 1858 - Paris 24 Dec. 1921), the first Serbian astrophysicist, later on the rector of Belgrade University. Dj. Stanojevic was a great popularizer of astronomy and science in general; he was the driving force in the introduction of electrical light in Belgrade and other cities in Serbia, the builder of the first hydro-electric power station in Serbia, a pioneer of industry of refrigerating appliances, the initiator of setting up a committee for cooling problems and of forming an international organization for cooling technique in Paris in 1903. He was also the pioneer of the color photogaphy in Serbia.
Apart from its importance for astronomy and meteorology, the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory was a cradle of the seismic and geomagnetic researches in Serbia.
The instruments procured by Nedeljkovic from the Great war reparations, constitute still practically the only observing basis of the Observatory. Currently mounted in appropriate pavilions are the following instruments: 1. Large Refractor - ZEISS 650/10550mm equatorial; 2. Solar spectrograph (monochromatic) LITTROW, 9000 mm/100.000 developed by adapting to the ZEISS 200/3020 mm equatorial two astrocameras TESSAR and PETZVAL 160/800 mm; 3. Large Transit Instrument ASKANIA 190/2578 mm; 4. Large Vertical Circle ASKANIA 190/2578 mm; 5. Astrograph ZEISS 160/800 mm; 6. Photovisual Refractor ZEISS 135/1000 mm and 125/1000 mm; 7. Transit Instrument BAMBERG 100/1000 mm and 8. Zenith-telescope ASKANIA 110/1287 mm.
At the head of the Astronomical Observatory was appointed in 1925 Vojislav V. Miskovic, at the time already a well established astronomer engaged at Nice Observatory, France. In 1929 Miskovic succeeded in getting funds for the constructions of a new, modern, observatory, at 6 km distance southeast from the city's centre, at 253 m high hill Veliki Vracar, named since, along with the entire surrounding part of Belgrade, Zvezdara (=concerned with stars).
Exceptional and highly valued complex constituting the Astronomical Observatory was drawn up by Jan Dubovi, a member of GAMP (Group of Modern Outlook Architects) founded in 1928. It is thanks to this very achievement that Dubovi was conferred a doctor of science degree in Prague. The construction works were carried out in 1930 to 1932, the instruments being mounted during the following two years.
In 1936 Miskovic, assisted by Milorad Protic, organized the Minor Planets and Sun Observation Service. In the same year P. Djurkovic discovered at the Uccle Observatory, Belgium, a minor planet, subsequently named 1605 Milankovic and M. Protic, at the Belgrade Observatory, discovered the minor planet 1564 Serbia, which marked the opening of a long series of 43 minor planets discovered by the Belgarde astronomers, so that exist minor planets with names 1507 Beograd, 1554 Yugoslavia, 2244 Tesla... In 1936 Miskovic started issuing Bulletin de l'Observatoire astronomique de Belgrade, a scientific periodical which from No. 145 for 1992 on appears under the name Bulletin astronomique de Belgrade, and from the number 157 for 1998 under the name Serbian Astronomical Journal.
When in May 1948 V. Miskovic's resignation was accepted, to the post of Observatory's director was appointed academician Milutin Milankovic (Dalj 28 May 1879 - Belgarde 12 Dec. 1958) who went down in history of science by his having explained the ice ages phenomenon through the slow changes in the Earth's insolation in consequence of the Earth's axis inclination and its motion around Sun, undergoing changes produced by various influences. Milankovic elucidated also the history of the climate of Earth and other planets, being the originator of the mathematical theory of the Earth's poles motion.
At present, there are 42 employees at the Observatory 32 of them are astronomers. Observatory is divided in Department of Astrophysics, Department for Dynamical Astronomy, Department for Astrometry, and Time keeping and geographic coordinates determination service. Scientific activity on Observatory is organized in 9 projects: 1. Influence of collisional processes on astrophysical plasma lineshapes (principal invesigator Milan S. Dimitrijevic); 2.Solar Spectral irradiance variability (Istvan Vince); 3. Inverse problems in astrophysics: Doppler tomography (Slobodan Jankov); 4. Stellar physics (Gojko Djurasevic); 5. Astrophysical spectroscopy of extragalactic objects (Luka Ch. Popovic); 6. Position and motion of minor bodies of the Solar system (Zoran Knezevic); 7. Investigations of double and multiple stars (Georgije Popovic); 8. Structure, kinematics and dynamics of the Milky Way (Slobodan Ninkovic); 9. History of astronomy among Serbs (Slobodan Ninkovic) Serbian Astronomical Journal publishing by the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory and Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Mathematics of the Belgrade University is available on www through the Astrophysical Data System (ADS), thanks to the courtesy of the System's holders. The www address is: http://adswww.harvard.edu.BOBeo. During 1999, the web site of the Belgrade astronomical observatory has been made and the corresponding www address is: http://www.aob.bg.ac.rs. Moreover the database BELDATA has started to develop and it is now available under the new name STARK-B through internet with the address: http://stark-b.obspm.fr/. The INI "Yugoslavia" Branch has as well the internet address: http://www.aob.bg.ac.rs/ .
In the course of its history the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory grew to an institution of great importance in the history of science and culture of the Serbian people, not only in the field of astronomy but also in meteorology, seismology and geomagnetics. Linked to this institution are the names of the famous personalities in the history of science who contributed to the Observatory, and the scientific achievmetns of Serbian astronomers in general, having earned esteem in the international scientific community as well as to the young having a good perspective, in our country too, in engaging in this beautiful and challenging science, in an ambience enabling them to achieve results of the highest value.