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| The Bengt Hultqvist observatory along with auroras. |
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The Bengt Hultqvist Observatory is situated 519 m above sea level at 67°51.48N | 20°15.99E. Its coordinates make the observatory one of the northernmost astronomical observatories in the world, beaten only by Tromsö University observatory in Skibotn, Norway. The inauguration ceremony took place on the 19th of February 2004. One of the speakers on this occasion was no less than Professor Emeritus Bengt Hultqvist who started all space activities in Kiruna and also gave the observatory its name. The Bengt Hultqvist Observatory is a cooperative project between Rymdgymnasiet and the Department of Space Science (IRV). Rymdgymnasiet, which is an upper secondary school specializing in space studies, received money in 2003 for an astronomical observatory. IRV already had a Meade catadioptric telescope but no observatory and a cooperation was the obvious solution. The teacher and craftsman Sven-Erik Tervaniemi at the upper secondary school Hjalmar Lundbohmsskolan offered to build the observatory with the assistance of his students. A location for the new observatory was found at the former military area I-22 situated in Kiruna. The observatory is the first and only astronomical observatory in Sweden completely made of wood. It has a diameter of 5.2m and a height of 4.5m. |