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NEKAAL
NEKAAL is the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers' League, a non-profit educational and scientific organization founded 1978 and based in Topeka, Kansas. NEKAAL and its members specialize in educational outreach to surrounding counties, and in discovering and refining orbits of solar system objects including comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...s and asteroids. NEKAAL is a member of the International Dark-Sky Association and the Night Sky Network, and operates the Farpoint Observatory southwest of Topeka. References {{reflist External linksNEKAAL website [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farpoint Observatory
Farpoint Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the ''Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers' League'', or NEKAAL. It is located on the grounds of Mission Valley High School at Eskridge, near Auburn, Kansas, approximately southwest of Topeka, Kansas, United States. Summary Farpoint Observatory is International Astronomical Union (IAU) observatory code 734, and is home to the Farpoint Asteroid Search Team (FAST), which has an international reputation having discovered more than 330 non-NEO (Near Earth Orbit) asteroids in addition to many in NEO orbits. As of January 1, 2014, Farpoint observers had contributed more than minor planet observations to the IAU Minor Planet Center. NEKAAL received a $56,060 grant from NASA's Near Earth Objects (NEO) tracking program to acquire and install at Farpoint the Pitt telescope from Lindley Hall, University of Kansas. After full refurbishment, the telescope now measures 27 inches in aperture (primary mirror diamet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 126,587. The Topeka Topeka, Kansas metropolitan area, metropolitan statistical area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson County, Kansas, Jackson, Jefferson County, Kansas, Jefferson, Osage County, Kansas, Osage, and Wabaunsee County, Kansas, Wabaunsee Counties, had a population of 233,870 in the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The name "Topeka" is a Kansa-Osage word that means "place where we dig potatoes", or "a good place to dig potatoes". As a placename, Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the Kansas River. Topeka's founders chose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religions. Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. Of the roughly one million known asteroids the greatest number are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, approximately 2 to 4 AU from the Sun, in the main asteroid belt. Asteroids are generally classified to be of three types: C-type, M-type, and S-type. These were named after and are generally identified with carbonaceous, metallic, and silicaceous compositions, respectively. The size of asteroids varies greatly; the largest, Ceres, is almost across and qualifies as a dwarf planet. The total mass of all the asteroids combined is only 3% that of Earth's Moon. The majority of main belt asteroids follow slightly elliptical, stable orbits, revolving in the same direction as the Earth and taking from three to six years to comple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Dark-Sky Association
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is "to preserve and protect the night time environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting." Light pollution is the result of outdoor lighting that is not properly shielded, allowing light shine into the eyes and night sky. Direct light that shines into the eyes is called glare, and light directed into the night sky above the horizon causes skyglow. Lighting can also cause light trespass when it enters areas where unwanted (e.g. a neighbor's yard and windows). IDA was the first organization in the dark-sky movement, and is currently the largest. Principal approach IDA's principal approach is to raise awareness about the value of dark, star-filled night skies and encourage their protection and restoration through e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Sky Network
Night Sky Network is an educational effort sponsored by NASA to help educate the public through astronomy clubs across the United States. See also * List of astronomical societies A list of notable groups devoted to promoting astronomy research and education. Africa * African Astronomical Society South Africa *Astronomical Society of Southern Africa Asia China * Chinese Astronomical Society India * Akash Mitra Mandal *A ... References External links * http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/ Amateur astronomy organizations {{Astronomy-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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