The Piszkéstető Station or Piszkéstető Mountain Station 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 ...

in Mátraszentimre in

Mátra Mountains The Mátra ( sk, Matra) is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető (1014 m), belongs to this mountain range. The Mátra is part of the North Hungarian Mountains an ...

, about northeast of Hungary's capital

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. It is a station of

Konkoly Observatory Konkoly Observatory ( hu, Konkoly Thege Miklós Csillagászati Intézet; obs. code: 053) is an astronomical observatory located in Budapest, Hungary is part of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences ( hu, Csillagászati és ...

, first built in 1958. It has the observatory code

461 __NOTOC__ Year 461 ( CDLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severinus and Dagalaiphus (or, less frequently, year 1214 ...

and 561 for being used by the

Szeged University , mottoeng = Truth. Bravery. Freedom. , established = , type = Public research university , founder = Emperor Franz Joseph I , affiliation = European University Association, Science Without Borders, Confucius Institute , budget = US$220 mi ...

and Konkoly Observatory, respectively.

Instruments

The observatory features four telescopes: * 60/90/180-centimetre

Schmidt telescope Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a crater on Mars * ...

since 1962 * 50-centimetre

Cassegrain telescope The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to the ...

since 1966 * 1-metre

Ritchey–Chrétien telescope A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope (RCT or simply RC) is a specialized variant of the Cassegrain telescope that has a hyperbolic primary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror designed to eliminate off-axis optical errors (coma). The RCT has a wi ...

since 1974 * 40-centimetre Ritchey–Chrétien telescope since 2010

Discovery of 2022 EB5

Piszkéstető Station discovered asteroid , which later impacted earth. It is only the fifth asteroid in history to have been discovered prior to impact. This puts the station in a very short list of observatories that have achieved this feat. Several asteroids impact earth every year with enough force to be detected by infrasound sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices, but the vast majority of impacts are unpredicted and occur without warning. Fortunately Piszkéstető Station discovered this asteroid before it impacted.

Honors

The minor planet 37432 Piszkéstető was named after the station, where it was discovered by astronomers

Krisztián Sárneczky Krisztián Sárneczky (born 6 November 1974 in Budapest) is a Hungarian people, Hungarian teacher of geography and prolific discoverer of minor planets and supernovae, researching at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. He is a board member o ...

and Zsuzsanna Heiner in January 2002.

List of discovered minor planets

A total of 19

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

discoveries are credited directly to the Piszkéstető Station by 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 ...

Gallery

References

External links

Piszkéstető Station

3D animation: 1 m RCC telescope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piszkesteto Station Astronomical observatories in Hungary * Minor-planet discovering observatories