The Junk Bond Observatory (JBO; code:

701 __NOTOC__ Year 701 ( DCCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 701 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

) is located in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

Sierra Vista Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Are ...

, Arizona, United States. It was established by amateur astronomer David Healy in his backyard in 1996, using a Celestron 14 SCT and a 16-inch

Meade LX200 The Meade LX200 is a family of commercial telescopes produced by Meade Instruments launched in 1992 with 8" (20.32 cm) and a 10" (25.4 cm) Schmidt–Cassegrain models on computerized altazimuth mounts. Two larger models, a 12" (30.48 ...

telescopes in a roll-off shelter. In 2000, a 20" Ritchey-Chretien was installed, to be replaced by a 32" Ritchey in 2004. Asteroid searches began in 1998 using a local computer network and search software. The first discovery at the observatory was made by Jeff Medkeff in June 1999. It was named 38203 Sanner after Glen Sanner also a member of the ''Huachuca Astronomy Club''. As of November 2016, a total of 272 numbered minor planets have been discovered at the observatory, using a 32-inch telescope. The

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 ...

credits 219 of these discoveries to David Healy and/or Jeff Medkeff. The discovery of the remaining 53 numbered minor planets is credited directly to the observatory ''(see list below)''. Until his death in 2011, David Healy was a frequent contributor of follow-up observations to objects on the

Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page The Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) is a web service listing recently-submitted observations of objects that may be near-Earth objects (NEOs). It is a service of the Minor Planet Center (MPC), which is the official international archiv ...

, surveyed for asteroids netting approximately four new discoveries per month as of January 2007, performed discovery and confirmation photometry of

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

transits, and performed photometry of

cataclysmic variable star In astronomy, cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are stars which irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent state. They were initially called novae (), since ones with an outburst brightness visible to ...

s and

active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...

. The telescope operated robotically, unattended for most of the night, controlled by software by

Bob Denny Bob Denny (fl. late 20th century) is an American software developer who writes software for robotic telescope and remote telescope systems. He is the inventor of the Astronomy Common Object Model (ASCOM) standard, which has resulted in the easy ...

and Jeff Medkeff. JBO was dismantled in August 2021. The telescope, dome, and other equipment were purchased by a private buyer.

List of discovered minor planets

The

directly credits the Junk Bond Observatory with the discovery of 53 numbered minor planets during 2000–2005.

References

External links

*
Junk Bond Observatory

Spectrashift

''Minor Planet Center'' {{Portal bar, Arizona, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in Arizona Minor-planet discovering observatories Sierra Vista, Arizona

List of discovered minor planets

See also

References

External links