We present the conceptual framework of the Astronomical Hub (AstroHub), a unified platform combining various optical instruments at a single observatory. Its major approach lies in arranging conditions for research groups to install telescopes and equipment and participate in joint projects. AstroHub is planned to integrate Virtual Observatory (VO) tools, FAIR data principles, and a telescope network to create a powerful and attractive ecosystem for both robust near-Earth object (NEO) monitoring and diverse deep space research. We provide an overview of the AstroHub development directions in the case study of the Assy-Turgen Observatory.

We report the recent results of a long-term spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of IRAS 17449+2320, a member of the least studied group of objects with the B[e] phenomenon called FS CMa-type objects. The main hypothesis for explaining the strong emission-line spectra and infrared excesses of these objects assumes an ongoing or past mass transfer between the components in binary systems. The object is the only star with a gaseous and dusty envelope, where a strong and variable magnetic field (5.5–7.2 kG) was found through the splitting of some spectral lines. Additionally, we discovered the regular appearance of a red-shifted absorption component in spectral lines of neutral hydrogen, helium, and oxygen as well as one of ionized silicon with a period of 36.13 ± 0.20 days. We show that the magnetic field strength also followed this period. The process was accompanied by increasing emission component strengths for the hydrogen lines as well as the helium and metallic absorption lines. We refined the fundamental parameters of the optical counterpart of IRAS 17449+2320 (${\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{eff}}=9800\pm 300$ K, log L/${\mathrm{L}}_{\odot }=1.86\pm 0.06$, $vsini=9\pm 2$ km s⁻¹) and concluded that the star was slightly metal-deficient and viewed nearly pole-on. No signs of a secondary component were found. Possible interpretations of the observed phenomena are suggested, and some earlier findings about the object’s nature are revised.

We report the first detection of a magnetic field in a star of the FS CMa type, a subgroup of objects showing the B[e] phenomenon. These stars are surrounded by an extended circumstellar medium, which is responsible for emission lines from both permitted and forbidden transitions, a large infrared excess due to dust, and a very complicated variability. The split of magnetically sensitive lines in the spectra of IRAS 17449+2320 unexpectedly revealed a strong magnetic field with strength of 6.2+/-0.2 kG. Our discovery indicates the importance of considering magnetic fields in studies of FS CMa stars, whose evolutionary status is still unknown. We found that IRAS 17449+2320 has an effective temperature of ~10,000 K. Several spectral lines affected by the circumstellar medium (e.g., O I 7772–7775 AA, Balmer lines) regularly exhibit redshifted absorption components with a period of 36.13 days. The same periodicity shows up in the equivalent width of the Halpha line. The analysis of our data suggests three possible scenarios for the nature and evolutionary status of the object: i) a magnetic A-type star primary with a hot dwarf secondary, ii) a binary merger, or iii) a magnetic Ap star near the terminal age main sequence. The latter one may represent an object which has been sought for decades and fills the gap in the observations and theory of magnetic Ap stars.

This paper presents the architecture of the Kazakhstani National Virtual Observatory (KazVO)—an International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) compliant node that unifies the heterogeneous observational datasets of the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute (FAI). The architectural foundation of the system is built upon a partitioned Data Lake, a German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (GAVO) Data Center Helper Suite (DaCHS) publishing backend, and a PostgreSQL database in which metadata for published observational products are mapped to IVOA ObsCore, while catalogs and simulation grids use dedicated relational tables. We follow Open Science principles by introducing a metadata-only showcase model based on a four-class data embargo mechanism. Machine-to-Machine services deployed via IVOA protocols are exposed through the KazVO publishing registry registered in the global Registry of Registries (RofR), enabling analysis of Kazakhstani observational assets within external clients such as Tool for OPerations on Catalogues And Tables (TOPCAT), Aladin, and PyVO. The current implementation combines operational VO publication services and targeted photometric processing with scheduled, batch-mode data ingestion, supporting access to published historical and modern observational holdings. Replication has been validated on pilot datasets, while routine deployment at the observing sites and automated reduction of modern spectroscopic streams remain under development. The architecture provides a framework for progressively integrating these components into a complete data lifecycle.

MWC 342 (V1972 Cyg) was discovered nearly 90 years ago as an early-type emission-line star. It was among the first hot stars whose strong infrared excess was detected in the early 1970s. Several mostly short-term photometric and spectroscopic studies resulted in contradictory conclusions about the nature and evolutionary status of MWC 342. It has been classified as a pre-main-sequence Herbig Be star, an evolved suspected binary system, and a long-period variable star. Suggestions on the nature of the secondary component to this B0/B1 primary included a cool M-type giant and an X-ray source. We collected medium- and high-resolution optical spectra of MWC 342 taken in 1994–2024 as well as optical photometric data taken in 1986–2024. Analysis of these data shows strong variations in the object’s brightness and spectral line properties at various time scales, but no strictly periodic phenomena have been found. Inparticular, such a long-term dataset allowed us to reveal the optical brightness variations over a nearly 20-year-long quasi-period, as well as their anti-correlation with the H$\alpha$ emission-line strength. Also, we did not confirm the presence of He ii emission lines and absorption lines of the star’s atmosphere that were suspected in previously published studies.

Objects with the B[e] phenomenon, whose defining features are the presence of forbidden emission lines and infrared excess coming from circumstellar dust, represent a broad range of evolutionary stages from pre-main-sequence to planetary nebulae. They are important for understanding mechanisms of the circumstellar matter formation and evolution. However, it is not easy to discover them, especially among faint stars, as forbidden emission lines are usually weak and hardly noticeable in low-resolution spectra. We developed photometric criteria to search for candidate objects with this phenomenon based on a combination of optical and near-infrared color indices and found nearly 40 objects that satisfy these criteria. Spectroscopy of the candidates allows us to make more confident conclusions on their classification. We present the results of our photometric and spectroscopic observations of six objects, which are part of a large list of ∼40 objects that satisfy our photometric selection criteria for candidate objects with the B[e] phenomenon. Forbidden lines of neutral oxygen were clearly detected in the optical spectrum of one object (VES 683) and suspected in three others. One object, AS 415, is most likely a binary system with components that exhibit partial eclipses but without the B[e] phenomenon, while IRAS 20402 + 4638 may be a luminous member of the FS CMa objects group.