An Astronomical Thaw: A New Rise of Iranian Astronomy

Historically astronomy has occupied an important position in Persian culture. Many prominent astronomers such as Biruni and Khayyam in the first half of the 11^th century and Tusi in the 13^th century have played major roles in the advancement of astronomy in Iran during their times. Likewise, astronomy schools such as Maragheh Observatory (13^th century) were once among the most prestigious astronomy research institutes in the world.

Maragheh Observatory located in the city of Maragheh in northwest of Iran.

Despite its popularity among Iranians and its important position in Persian culture, astronomy in Iran has advanced slowly during the past several decades. This slow progression has been due to many factors some of which strongly tied to various political, economic, and social developments in Iran. During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), for instance, at a time when Iran was also under economic sanctions, many resources were diverted to the ongoing war efforts, and strong emphasis was put on promoting the applied sciences for the purpose of putting Iran on a straight path towards self-sufficiency. This led to a sharp increase in the number of Iranian universities as well as graduate and undergraduate students, especially in the applied sciences. As a result today, Iran, trailing just behind Russia and the United of States, has the highest number of graduates with degrees in engineering, manufacturing, and construction.

Figure courtesy of J. Rahighi.

The past 25 years have witnessed major initiatives in promoting research in basic sciences in Iran. While sanctions aimed at isolating Iranian scientists by denying them access to international journals, banning them from attending conferences and visiting research laboratories, and not allowing them to have access to modern technology such as computer software and laboratory equipment, Iranian universities increased their research in fundamental sciences, resulting in a wide-reaching overhaul of higher education in Iran, and launching major initiatives throughout the country to build large science infrastructures. There are currently 4.6-4.8 million graduate and undergraduate students in Iran with approximately 2 million of those pursuing degrees in science, medicine, and engineering. Iran has close to 400 state-funded and private universities with 400,000 Masters and over 40,000 PhD students.

One of these major initiatives was the revival of astronomy marked by the construction of a 3.4 meter, multipurpose, international research telescope known as the Iranian National Observatory (INO). The INO340 is Iran’s first project in modern observational astronomy and cosmology. It will be located at a site approximately 200 miles south of the Iranian capital, Tehran. With an altitude of slightly less than 12,000 feet, the site has excellent atmospheric conditions which, combined with the telescope’s large aperture, will allow for high resolution imaging as well as precise follow-up surveys.

INO340 has been marked as one of Iran’s three Major National Scientific Initiatives. Unfortunately, during the past 10 years, several factors, including the sanctions imposed on Iran slowed down the construction of this observatory. Due to its national importance, the observatory was the subject of a symposium entitled “Iran: Science Cooperation in a Post-Sanctions Era”, organized by the AAAS during their 2016 annual meeting that took place 11-15 January in Washington, DC. The goal of this symposium was to create awareness of some of the major research initiatives in Iran, to explore the effects that sanctions have had on their developments, and discuss the prospects of gaining new momentum after the recent nuclear deal. The symposium featured four presentations of different major scientific projects within the fields of light-source facilities, stem cell research, environmental sciences, and astronomy. The latter focused on the development of INO340 including its recent challenges and successes.

Post-presentation discussion at the AAAS symposium “Iran: Science Cooperation in a Post-Sanctions Era” held on 13 January 2016 in Washington, DC. From left to right; Hossein Akhani (Tehran University, Environmental Sciences), Javad Rahighi (Iranian Light-Source Facility), Ali Brivanlou (Rockefeller University, Stem Cell Research), Nader Haghighipour (University of Hawaii, Astronomy). Photo courtesy of AAAS.

The construction of INO340 will without a doubt have a fundamental effect on the advancement of astronomy in Iran. Not only will it enable Iranian astronomers to have significant contributions to modern astronomy, by being available to the international astronomical community it will also offer an invaluable opportunity for collaboration in observational as well as theoretical projects. The fact that, despite over 30 years of sanctions, Iranian scientists have made significant progress in many different areas of science and technology, and many Iranian students have pursued graduate degrees in a variety of fields and disciplines at American and European universities demonstrates that the country is ready to work on a global scale. Iranian students, highly enthusiastic for working on fundamental research projects, provide scientists with a great opportunity to exchange ideas and develop meaningful scientific collaborations within and across disciplines. The construction of INO340 will definitely set the stage for such collaborations and pave the road for exciting developments in astronomy. A fantastic opportunity, and a future that holds great scientific promise!