Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (Polish: Centrum Astronomiczne im. Mikołaja Kopernika) is a Polish scientific research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. It is a leading institution in the country in the field of astronomy. History In the '50s, the Polish Academy of Sciences started to plan a new center for astronomers from all over Poland. However, the administration decided to withdraw from the project a few years later: the project was never funded. At the beginning of the '70s, a group of Polish astronomers proposed a new initiative. During an assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences, professors Bohdan Paczyński and Józef Smak presented a project for a theoretical astrophysics institute, in order to overcome problems due to the high prize of building a telescope. In May 1971 the US National Academy of Sciences sent its envoy to Poland from Yerkes Observatory. The American envoy talked with many representatives of the Polish astronomical community, until a more precise idea of CAMK finally emerged. The idea was well received by the US National Academy of Sciences. Moreover, the US could provide substantial financial support for the construction of CAMK. In fact, at that time, there