Visits to the Astronomical Observatory during the International Technical Fair

During this year's 66th International Fair of Technics and Technical Achievements, the Astronomical Observatory hosted visitors from the People's Republic of China. First, on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, the Astronomical Observatory was visited by Mr. Bob Chen, a representative of MinoSpace, one of the most reputable Chinese companies engaged in research and production of satellites.

Mr. Chen presented the work of the MinoSpace company in detail to Dr. Goran Damljanović and Dr. Srdjan Samurović. After a discussion about the work and possibilities of this company, Dr. Samurović presented the planned activities of the Urban Observatory of Belgrade project, UrbObsBel, funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. After discussing the project, Mr. Chen visited the Great Refractor pavilion where he learned about this instrument and its importance for Serbian astronomy.

The following day (Thursday, May 23), the Astronomical Observatory was visited by a delegation from the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology (BJAST), led by the president of this institution, Dr. Jianmin Wu. Also, in this delegation were Dr. Junkai Li, Dr. Baoming Li, Ms. Lin Li, Dr. Jing Zhu and Ms. Rong Ren. At the meeting organized on that occasion, the Astronomical Observatory was represented by Dr. Jelena Kovačević Dojčinović, deputy director of Dr. Luka Popović, who was on an official trip, Dr. Milan Stojanović, head of the Research Unit for Space Science and Technologies, and Dr. Srdjan Samurović, president of the Scientific council of the Astronomical Observatory and head of the Research Unit for Solar Activity Monitoring, Climate Change and Light Pollution. Also present were Dr. Jelena Svorcan from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, prof. Dr. Dušan Marcheta from the Faculty of Mathematics and Mr. Dobrivoje Lale Erić from the Center for the Promotion of Science. Dr. Stojanović presented to the distinguished guests from China the history of the Astronomical Observatory and its scientific activities. After his presentation, Dr. Samurović briefly presented the problem of light pollution and the PRISMA project of the Urban Observatory of Belgrade (UrbObsBel) of which he is the coordinator and whose implementation began in January of this year. Colleagues from China were very interested and various aspects of possible future cooperation were discussed. After the meeting, the guests visited the Great Refractor pavilion, where Dr. Stojanović described the features of this telescope and answered their questions.