The Skalnaté pleso Observatory () is an astronomical and meteorological observatory located in the locality of the same name in the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia, at coordinates and at an altitude of on the south-eastern slopes of Lomnický à ¡tÃÂt near Tatranská Lomnica.
Its MPC observatory code is 056 Skalnate Pleso.
The observatory is named after a nearby mountain lake (Skalnaté pleso, literally: "Rocky Tarn").
The observatory, whose motto is Per aspera ad astra, began operating in 1943 under the direction of AntonÃÂn BeÃÂváà Â.
The asteroid 2619 Skalnaté Pleso was named in honor of the observatory.
The observatory produced the popular sky atlas Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens by AntonÃÂn BeÃÂváà Â, who founded the observatory in 1943. It is also known for its visual comet hunting and for its astrometric observations and discoveries of minor planets.
Noted astronomers who worked at the observatory include Milan Antal, AntonÃÂn Mrkos, ýudmila Pajduà ¡Ã¡ková and Margita Kresáková (née Vozárová), as well as Alois Paroubek and Regina Podstanická. Discoveries include the minor planets 1807 Slovakia and 1989 Tatry.
The original instrumentation, a 0.6-metre reflecting telescope Zeiss and two 0.2-metre refracting telescopes, was replaced with a new 60 cm reflector in 1977, equipped with a photoelectric photometer, and with another 61 cm reflector in 2001, equipped with a CCD.
The department is particularly known for its studies of meteoroids. The main field of investigation is meteor showers, their parent bodies, their origin and their evolution. For this research the observatory uses radio waves through dedicated radar astronomy systems for the study of meteors, in collaboration with the Modra Observatory.
The observatory also operates an all-sky observation station equipped with cameras fitted with fisheye lenses and integrated into the European Fireball Network.
The department has specialised in the study of variable stars, particularly those with large variability such as cataclysmic variables, symbiotic novae, Ap and Bp stars and peculiar stars. In the past it also participated in stellar studies conducted within the programmes of the Intercosmos consortium.
The observatory publishes its own scientific journal in English, Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso (CAOSP).
A weather station operated by the Institute of Geophysics of Bratislava is also installed at the observatory.
The observatory also studies ozone through radio observations from the Earth's surface.