"Above the Sound". Astrophysicist Excursion "Chiefs of the Stars", August 21, 2026

🌌 Space begins much closer than it seems — just look up at the starry sky.

✨ The "Above the Sound" festival of music and science is bringing together researchers, musicians, and everyone inspired by discoveries in Karachay-Cherkessia for the fifth year.

📅 August 12–26
🏔️ Karachay-Cherkessia
🔬 26 scientific events
🎼 43 festival events

⭐ The republic is rightfully considered one of Russia's most important centers for astronomical research, which is why space themes hold a special place in the festival's program.

🚀 Meetings with scientists help you learn more about modern universe research, the work of astronomers, and recent discoveries.

💫 Science makes distant cosmic objects a little closer and more understandable to each of us.

🌌 Event Program:

🔭 Modern astrophysics allows us to literally "travel through time" — from the nearest stars to the era when the universe was just beginning its existence.

✨ Together with Gennady Valyavin, Director of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, we will discuss how scientific discoveries are made and how new-generation telescopes work.

🌠 We will discuss:
• how modern instruments allow us to observe distant galaxies;
• what exactly telescopes "see" in the depths of space;
• how our understanding of the universe changes with each new observation.

🏔️ The meeting will take place at the Large Altazimuth Telescope (BTA) — one of the largest astronomical instruments that allows humanity to explore space over vast distances and across different epochs of time.

🎼 The impressions from astronomical observations will be complemented by a musical program from the artists of the "Above the Sound" festival — as an emotional response to the scale of the universe.

👤 Scientist:
🔬 Gennady Valyavin — astrophysicist, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Director of the SAO RAS

📍 Location: BTA SAO RAS, Nizhny Arkhyz
📌 Meeting point: at the entrance to the BTA of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences
⏰ Start: 16:00
⏳ Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
👨‍👩‍👧 Age: 12+
🎟️ Cost: adult — 1500 ₽, child — 1000 ₽

ℹ️ Changes to the program are possible.