Assy-Turgen Observatory

The observatory, referred to as the Assy-Turgen Observatory, the Assy Observatory, and the Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory, is located at an altitude of 2,750 metres (9,020 ft) above sea level, 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Almaty. [1]

The process of building began in 1975. The first observations took place in 1981 via telescope - Zeiss-1000. In the beginning of the 1980s the process of building of 1.5-m telescope dome began. The dome was 45 meters (148 ft) in height, but due to total crisis (because of Soviet Union collapse) the process of building was frozen in 1992 and only 22 years later in 2014 continued. In 2015 main (parabolic) mirror with diameter 1.5 meters (61 in) was installed on the telescope AZT-20. First light AZT-20 saw in October 2016. Since 2017 at the regular exploitation. [3]

The Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope (CDK-700) at Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory (NUTTelA-TAO) was installed during 2018 at 43°13′35″N 77°52′22″E.

According to the website of the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute, the observatory has low turbulence—i.e., good astronomical seeing.[4]

On the territory of the Assy-Turgen observatory, the average FWHM value is <2 ″, which is considered the best astroclimatic conditions in Kazakhstan. High transparency and low turbulence of air masses, absence of light pollution create favorable conditions for observational astrophysics.[5]

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  Panorama of Assy-Turgen observatory
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  1.5-m telescope AZT-20
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  1-m telescope dome
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  1-m Zeiss-1000 telescope