Višnjan Observatory (Croatian: Zvjezdarnica Višnjan; obs. code: 120) is an astronomical observatory located near the village of Višnjan in Croatia. It is headed by Korado Korlević, a prolific astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. In 2009, the Višnjan observatory moved to Tičan (at 45°17′27″N 13°44′57″E) and received the obs. code L01 on 5 October 2017 (M.P.C. 105,577).
Description
Višnjan Observatory was founded in 1992, as a public observatory. It worked in the field of astrometry and search of a new asteroids. Increasing light pollution made the observations in Višnjan difficult, and they stopped in 2001. In 2009, a new building of the observatory was opened near the village of Tičan, approximately 2.5 kilometers away. According to the statistic on observatory's website (Višnjan and Tičan) as of 2016, a total of 1420 asteroids and 2 comets have been discovered at the observatory, which uses 11 telescopes and has a staff of 78 members and volunteers. The Minor Planet Center (MPC) directly credits the Višnjan Observatory with the discovery of 108 minor planets (see list below), while 1294 discoveries are credited to Korado Korlević. (The observatory's statistic may also include unnumbered minor planets for which the MPC does not assign a discoverer.) The observatory is home of several summer programs for youth in astronomy, archeology, marine biology and other disciplines: Youth Science Camp, Summer School of Science and Višnjan School of Astronomy. Željko Anderić, Korado Korlević, Damir Matković, Petar Radovan, and Vanja Brčić contributed to the revival of the observatory in Višnjan after the crisis following the breakup of Yugoslavia. Brčić is an IT specialist who runs a computer company and is involved in robotics. The Minor Planet Center credits him with the discovery of two asteroids in 1995, both discovered in collaboration with Korlević. He discovered 11604 Novigrad on October 21, 1995.
List of discovered minor planets
See also List of asteroid-discovering observatories List of astronomical observatories List of minor planet discoverers § Discovering dedicated institutions List of observatory codes
References
External links Official website http://www.en.sci.hr/ Archived 2018-10-29 at the Wayback Machine



