La Sagra Observatory (; OLS;

observatory code This is a list of observatory codes (IAU codes or MPC codes) published by the Minor Planet Center. For a detailed description, ''see observations of small Solar System bodies''. List References {{DEFAULTSORT:Observato ...

: L98) 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 ...

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 Tropi ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It uses four

robotic telescope A robotic telescope is an astronomical telescope and detector system that makes observations without the intervention of a human. In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as robotic if it makes those observations without being operated ...

s both designed and built ( hardware and

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

) by the scientists of the

Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca The Astronomical Observatory of 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 Balearic Islands autonomous community and provin ...

(OAM) who operate them remotely by telecontrol daily, discharging data from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

using the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, 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—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

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 A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first IAU definition of planet, defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as fo ...

, particularly

near-Earth objects A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit aro ...

, and

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...

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 t ...

, astronomer at OAM located the asteroid

Duende A duende is a humanoid figure of folklore, with variations from Iberian Peninsula, Iberian, Ibero-America, Ibero American, and Culture of Latin America, Latin American cultures, comparable to Dwarf (folklore), dwarves, gnomes, or leprechauns. ...

,
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 satellite A geosynchronous satellite is a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, with an orbital period the same as the Earth's rotation period. Such a satellite returns to the same position in the sky after each sidereal day, and over the course of a day tra ...

s at .Braenig, R. A. "Orbital mechanics"
Retrieved 15 February 2013.

La Sagra Sky Survey

The ''La Sagra Sky Survey'' (LSSS) was an

astronomical survey An astronomical survey is a general celestial cartography, map or astrophotography, image of a region of the sky (or of the whole sky) that lacks a specific observational target. Alternatively, an astronomical survey may comprise a set of image ...

conducted at La Sagra Observatory. The numbered comets 233P/La Sagra, 279P/La Sagra and 324P/La Sagra 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