Astronomical Institute

Every year on the 1^st of April, the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (AIRA) organizes an Open Gates Day. This gives the possibility to the public to have free access to the designated visiting areas of the institute. Due to the impact of the pandemic conditions, no events are scheduled at this time.

On this occasion, the Astronomical Institute offers guided tours in its park of scientific buildings and inside some of these exciting astronomical research facilities. Visitors have the chance to step in the Main Building of Bucharest Observatory and see the permanent astronomy exhibition in the Meridian Hall. Here are displayed several scientific instruments used in our scientific past for astronomical research, some being unique in our country. The guided tours include the entrance in the Equatorial Dome where is located the impressing Prin-Merz astrograph, the largest refractory telescope in Romania, which is today classed as „Treasury” in our national cultural patrimony. When the weather allows, the visiting public have the possibility to enter the Sun Dome and see the monitoring process of the Sun which is regularly done here by the astronomers of the institute. The information is acquired live from Bucharest, by using several Zeiss telescopes, high-precision CCD cameras, filters and computers. The itinerary of the public in the park of the institute includes other historical objectives which are the Sun Building, Telescope Building, Small Meridian Hall and Bosianu House.

During the Open Gates Day, our professional astronomers joined sometimes by special guests give astronomy presentations with multimedia support in the Planetarium Hall. In the lobby area of the Planetarium Hall, the Institute presents a photography exhibition about the first Romanian astronomical expedition, done by Nicolae Coculescu in Senegal in 1893 for the total solar eclipse.

1^stof April was chosen for the Open Gates Day at the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy as on the 1^st of April 1908, the Minister of Public Instruction and Religious Affairs, Spiru Haret, signed the Decree for the founding of the Meteorological and Astronomical Observatory in Bucharest.

Visiting the scientific park of Bucharest Observatory. In the background - the Sun Dome and the Telescope Building. Coordinator of the group - Marian Naiman, the president of Bucharest Astroclub

Octavian Blagoi, scientific researcher of AIRA, during an educational activity about the features of the Sun

Young friends of astronomy during a presentation in the Planetarium Hall

A close look to a fragment of Chelyabinsk meteor (Russia, 2013) during Bucharest Science Festival, an educational event organized and hosted by Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (AIRA)

.:Open Day:.

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