La Sagra Observatory ( es, Observatorio Astronómico de La Sagra; OLS; observatory code: L98) is an astronomical

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

located in the

province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropical). ...

, Spain. It uses four robotic telescopes both designed and built ( hardware and software) by the scientists of the

Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca The Astronomical Observatory of Mallorca ( es, Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, OAM) is an observatory just south of Costitx, Mallorca, Spain. The observatory was inaugurated in May 1991 and was the first astronomical center in the Bal ...

(OAM) who operate them remotely by

telecontrol A telecommand or telecontrol is a command sent to control a remote system or systems not directly connected (e.g. via wires) to the place from which the telecommand is sent. The word is derived from ''tele'' = remote (Greek), and ''command'' = to ...

daily, discharging data from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

using the Internet, to process them by means of algorithms designed "in house" which helped to detect asteroid 367943 Duende.Observatorio de La Sagra
/ref> among the other 1706

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. ...

s, with a 12th place in the ranking of asteroid discoveries.Minor Planet Center: Minor Planet Discoverers
/ref> Its activities include, as part of its La Sagra Sky Survey, tracking small Solar System bodies, particularly near-Earth objects, and

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...

Duende

Among the

s discovered and tracked by

thanks to its four remotely operated telescopes and to the clear skies of Sierra de la Sagra, on 15 February 2012, a team coordinated by

Jaume Nomen Jaume Nomen Torres (also: Jaime Nomen; born June 23, 1960 in Tortosa, Catalonia) is a Spanish oral and maxillofacial surgeon, amateur astronomer and discoverer of numerous minor planets. He is of Catalan origin and became publicly known for the d ...

, astronomer at OAM located the asteroid Duende,
Guia sobre el asteroide 2012 DA14
/ref> and calculated that the following year, more specifically on 15 February 2013, it would pass from Earth, the closest known distance an asteroid of that absolute magnitude has come to the planet, and well within the

geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

, of the geosynchronous satellites at .Braenig, R. A. "Orbital mechanics"
Retrieved 15 February 2013.

La Sagra Sky Survey

The ''La Sagra Sky Survey'' (LSSS) was an astronomical survey conducted at La Sagra Observatory. The numbered comets

233P/La Sagra This is a list of periodic comets that were numbered by the Minor Planet Center after having been observed on at least two occasions. Their orbital periods vary from 3.2 to 366 years. there are 436 numbered comets (1P–436P), most of them bein ...

279P/La Sagra This is a list of periodic comets that were numbered by the Minor Planet Center after having been observed on at least two occasions. Their orbital periods vary from 3.2 to 366 years. there are 436 numbered comets (1P–436P), most of them bein ...

and

324P/La Sagra 324P/La Sagra is an active asteroid with an orbital period of 5.44 years. It has been found to be active in more than one perihelia, indicating that the source of activity is sublimation. The asteroid was first noticed in images taken by La Sagr ...

were discovered by LSSS.

References

External links

Collados de la Sagra Web site

Minor Planets.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Observatorio Astronomico de La Sagra Astronomical observatories in Spain Robotic telescopes Buildings and structures in the Province of Granada

Duende

La Sagra Sky Survey

See also

References

External links