The Calvin–Rehoboth Robotic Observatory (
obs. code:
G98) is an
astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
developed jointly between
Calvin University
Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...
(formerly Calvin College) in
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
and
Rehoboth Christian School
Rehoboth Christian School is a private school, private, Parent-controlled school, parent-controlled Christian school in Rehoboth, New Mexico. Founded in 1903 as Rehoboth Mission School, the school serves a portion of the Navajo Nation and its ...
in
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, United States. It consists of identical telescopes, one on each campus. Students at both schools use the telescopes as part of their study.
The joint observatory has been in operation since 2004.
Since weather in Michigan is often problematic for visual astronomy, the joint observatory allows students at the college to operate the telescope in New Mexico remotely after having trained on the identical telescope locally. It provides access to research quality scientific equipment and training for the high school students.
The observatory was used to discover several
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 ...
s, including
145475 Rehoboth, which was named for the high school, where the Calvin–Rehoboth Robotic Observatory is located,
while
134244 De Young was named for Mike De Young, a former science teacher at the Rehoboth Christian School.
List of discovered minor planets
More than a hundred discovered minor planets are credited directly to the discovering observatory () 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.
Funct ...
(as ''Calvin College'' or ''Prairie School'').
See also
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List of asteroid-discovering observatories
The list of asteroid-discovering observatories contains a section for each observatory which has discovered one or more asteroids, along with a list of those asteroids.
For each numbered asteroid, the Minor Planet Center lists one or more discov ...
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References
External links
Asteroids bear school, educator’s monikers, (134244) De Young, PDF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvin-Rehoboth Observatory
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Minor-planet discovering observatories