Brief History of Armenians and Astronomy

ArmeniaNow has a really interesting article that briefly looks at some of the many accomplishments of Armenians in the field of astronomy and space sciences. Here's an excerpt:

...long before – IV-III millennium BC -- some 30 kilometers east of Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest observatories looked to the sky perhaps for the same reasons the Russians and Americans would later fight to dominate it.

Though sadly deteriorating, patterns of night skies carved into rocks that became celestial maps for early astronomers can still be seen on a Metsamor hill. Fifty years? Hardly a flash compared to the centuries Armenians have been interested in the heavens.

I found this article very informative and interesting, to say the least. Check it out here.

Armenia's Byurakan Observatory

The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory was founded in 1946 by the renowned Victor Hambartsumian. For many years this observatory, which is located at an altitutde of 1,500 m/5,000 ft in Armenia on the slope of Mount Aragats, was a major center of astronomy in the Soviet Union. The main scientific instruments at the observatory are: a 2.6m Cassegrain reflector telescope, 1m and 0.5m Schmidt telescopes, a few other telescopes of 40-60 cm size, and many other astronomical instruments.

Many important discoveries have been made at Byurakan throughout the years, including the discovery of stellar associations in 1947, the hypothesis about activity of galactic nuclei by Hambartsumian in 1958, and the discovery and study of many Seyfert galaxies and quasars, discovery of more than 1000 flare stars, dozens of Supernovae, hundreds of Herbig-Haro objects and cometary nebulae, and valuable works in the field of radiative transfer theory.

Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the observatory endured difficult times. It is currently owned and operated by Armenian Academy of Sciences. The Byurakan astronomers collaborate with scientists of France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, USA, Mexico, Japan, China, India, and other countries. Recently, they have started offering tours, as well.

Sources:
Official Byurakan Observatory Website
Armenian Astronomical Society
Byurakan Observatory on WikiPedia