The Astronomical Observatory on the Golovec hill overlooking Ljubljana has acquired a new, 80-centimetre telescope, the largest yet in the country. It replaces an older one whose mirror measured 9cm less in diameter.

The observatory is operated by the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, which is now collecting proposals from the public to find a name for the new AZ800 telescope.

The faculty paid the €200,000 telescope with funds acquired in a public call combined with its own funds.

The new telescope is not yet in use as the 5.5-metre dome of the Golovec observatory is undergoing an upgrade and renovation, which is expected to be completed by the end of January, Samo Ilc from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics told the Slovenian Press Agency.

The AZ800 replaced the 71cm Vega telescope, which had been in operation since 2004. The Vega has been bought by the manufacturer of the new telescope, the Austrian company ASA. Before Vega, the observatory used a 25cm telescope.

"In 2016 we acquired a small dome with a diameter of three metres, which houses a smaller Skywatcher telescope with a mirror diameter of 25 centimetres," Ilc explained.

They also have a few smaller telescopes, which are mainly used for student practice, but are often put on display at public events such as open days and evenings at the observatory.

The Golovec observatory typically opens its doors to the general public at the time of the summer and winter solstices and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes as well as for other astronomical events.

The new telescope will be equipped with instruments for photometry and spectroscopy that can tell the physical properties of stars, star clusters and galaxies.

The Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory on Golovec has been operating since 1959. It was founded at the initiative Fran Dominko (1903-1987), the first professor of astronomy at the Department of Astronomy, University of Ljubljana.