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Sormano Astronomical Observatory
The Sormano Astronomical Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico Sormano, obs. code: 587) is an astronomical observatory north of Milan, Italy. Located near the Swiss border at 1000 meters elevation at the mountain village of Sormano in the pre-Alps, the observatory was privately funded by the ''Gruppo Astrofili Brianza'' and built in 1986. Description The observatory is known for its astrometric observations of minor planets and comets in the Solar System. After its first light in January 1989, several amateur astronomers such as Marco Cavagna, Valter Giuliani, Piero Sicoli, Pierangelo Ghezzi, Francesco Manca, Paolo Chiavenna, Graziano Ventre and Augusto Testa have made their minor planet discoveries at the observatory using its 50-centimeter "Cavagna Telescope", a Ritchey–Chrétien astrograph. Astronomers at Sormano have developed their own custom software to make follow-up observations of near-Earth objects such as 4179 Toutatis and 99942 Apophis. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sormano
Sormano ( Valassinese lmo, Surman ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. It is part of the mountain community of the Triangolo lariano, a local government with Canzo as its chief town and comprising the peninsula between the two branches of Lake Como. Sormano borders the following municipalities: Asso, Barni, Bellagio, Caglio, Lasnigo, Magreglio, Nesso, Zelbio. The Muro di Sormano is one of the most severe hills to have been used in road cycling. It is associated with the Giro di Lombardia. Twin towns * San Cipriano Picentino San Cipriano Picentino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southern Italy. Twin towns * Sormano (Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a countr ..., Italy, since 2007 References Cities and towns in Lombardy {{Como-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paolo Chiavenna
Paolo Chiavenna is an Italian amateur astronomer and a co-discoverer of minor planets, credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 15 minor planets during 1995–2000. He is an active observer at the Sormano Astronomical Observatory in the north Italian province of Como. The observatory was founded in 1987 and is a member of the GIA (''Gruppo Italiano Astrometristi''), an Italian association of amateur astronomers who specialize in the observation of minor bodies. Chiavenna's activities there include astrophotography, software development and observation, during the course of which he has made his discoveries, all in collaboration with Francesco Manca, Piero Sicoli, Valter Giuliani, Augusto Testa Augusto Testa (born 1950) is an Italian amateur astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Eart ... and Marco Cavagna. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function The Minor Planet Center is the official worldwide organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (such as asteroids), calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the '' Minor Planet Circulars''. Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory. The MPC runs a number of free online services for observers to assist them in observing minor planets and comets. The complete catalogue of minor planet orbits (sometimes referred to as the "Minor Planet Catalogue") may also be freely downloaded. In addition to astrometric data, the MPC collect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bellagio, Lombardy
Bellagio (; lmo, label=Comasco, Belàs ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located on Lake Como, also known by its Latin-derived name ''Lario'', whose arms form an inverted Y. The triangular land mass at the base of the inverted Y is the Larian Triangle: at its northern point sits Bellagio, looking across to the northern arm of the lake and, behind it, the Alps. It has always been famous for its location. It belongs to a mountain community named ''Comunità montana del Triangolo lariano'' ( Larian Triangle mountain community), based in Canzo. Geography Bellagio is situated upon the cape of the land mass that divides Lake Como in two. The city centre occupies the tip of the promontory, while other districts are scattered along the lake shores and up the slopes of the hills. The great Pleistocene glaciations with their imposing flows coming from the Valtellina and Valchiavenna modelled the actual landscape of Lake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Planet Circulars
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function The Minor Planet Center is the official worldwide organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (such as asteroids), calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the '' Minor Planet Circulars''. Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory. The MPC runs a number of free online services for observers to assist them in observing minor planets and comets. The complete catalogue of minor planet orbits (sometimes referred to as the "Minor Planet Catalogue") may also be freely downloaded. In addition to astrometric data, the MPC collect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6882 Sormano
6882 Sormano ( ''prov. designation'': ) is an stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 5 February 1995, by Italian amateur astronomers Piero Sicoli and Valter Giuliani at Sormano Astronomical Observatory in northern Italy. The asteroid was named for the Italian mountain-village of Sormano and its discovering observatory. Orbit and classification ''Sormano'' is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–2.8 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,489 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 14 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's observation arc begins 6 years prior to its discovery, as it had previously been observed as at Palomar Observatory in 1989. Naming This minor planet was named in honor of the Italian mountain-village of Sorma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunomia Family
The Eunomia or Eunomian family () is a large asteroid family of S-type asteroids named after the asteroid 15 Eunomia. It is the most prominent family in the intermediate asteroid belt and the 6th-largest family with nearly six thousand known members, or approximately 1.4% of all asteroids in the asteroid belt. Characteristics By far the largest member is 15 Eunomia, the largest of all the "stony" S-type asteroid, It is about 300 km across along its longest axis, has a 250 km mean radius, and lies close to the Barycentric coordinates (astronomy), barycenter of the family. Eunomia has been estimated to contain about 70–75% of the matter from the original parent body. This had a mean diameter of about 280 km and was disrupted by the catastrophic impact that created the family. It is likely that the parent body was at least partly planetary differentiation, differentiated, because the surface of Eunomia and spectra of the smaller family members show some variation. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
99942 Apophis
99942 Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid and potentially hazardous asteroid with a diameter of that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 when initial observations indicated a probability up to 2.7% that it would hit Earth on April 13, 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth in 2029. Until 2006, a small probability nevertheless remained that, during its 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole of no more than about in diameter, which would have set up a future impact exactly seven years later on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept it at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006, when the probability that Apophis would pass through the keyhole was determined to be very small and Apophis' rating on the Torino scale was lowered to zero. By 2008, the keyhole had been determined to be less than 1 km wide. During the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4179 Toutatis
4179 Toutatis, provisional designation , is an elongated, stony asteroid and slow rotator, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo asteroid and Alinda asteroid groups, approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by French astronomer Christian Pollas at Caussols in 1989, the asteroid was named after Toutatis from Celtic mythology. Toutatis is also a Mars-crosser asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance with the planet Jupiter, a 1:4 resonance with the planet Earth, and frequent close approaches to the terrestrial planets, including Earth. In December 2012, Toutatis passed within about 18 lunar distances of Earth. The Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 2 flew by the asteroid at a distance of 3.2 kilometers and a relative velocity of 10.73 km/s. Toutatis approached Earth again in 2016, but will not make another notably close approach until 2069. Properties Toutatis was first sighted on 10 February 1934, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Near-Earth Objects
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). If a NEO's orbit crosses the Earth's orbit, and the object is larger than across, it is considered a potentially hazardous object (PHO). Most known PHOs and NEOs are asteroids, but a small fraction are comets. There are over 30,503 known near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and over a hundred known short-period near-Earth comets (NECs). A number of solar-orbiting meteoroids were large enough to be tracked in space before striking the Earth. It is now widely accepted that collisions in the past have had a significant role in shaping the geological and biological history of the Earth. Asteroids as small as in diameter can cause significant damage to the local environment and human populations. Larger asteroids penetrate the atmosphere to the sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrograph
An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, and comets. Improvements in photography in the middle 19th century led to designs dedicated to astrophotography, and they were also popular in the 20th century. As in other photography, chemicals were used that respond to light, recorded on a glass photographic plate or sometimes on photographic film. Many observatories of this period used an astrograph, beside instruments like the transit telescope, great refractors, and chronometers, or instruments for observing the Sun. Astrographs were often used to make surveys of the night sky, and one of the famous projects was Carte du Ciel. Discoveries using an astrograph include then-planet Pluto. Rather than looking through the telescope, it was discovered by using a blink comparator with im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
