Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky. Named after the mythical phoenix, it was first depicted on a celestial atlas by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille charted the brighter stars and gave their Bayer designations in 1756. The constellation stretches from roughly −39° to −57° declination, and from 23.5h to 2.5h of right ascension. The constellations Phoenix, Grus, Pavo and Tucana, are known as the Southern Birds.
An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms object and body are often used interchangeably. However, an astronomical body or celestial body is a single, tightly bound, contiguous entity, while an astronomical or celestial object is a complex, less cohesively bound structure, which may consist of multiple bodies or even other objects with substructures.
In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered every year. Astronomers need to be able to assign systematic designations to unambiguously identify all of these objects, and at the same time give names to the most interesting objects, and where relevant, features of those objects.
Robert George Harrington was an American astronomer who worked at Palomar Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert Sutton Harrington, who was also an astronomer, but was born later and worked at the US Naval Observatory.
Richard Martin West is a Danish astronomer and discoverer of astronomical objects with a long career at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and at the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
The Uppsala–ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets (UESAC) took place in 1992–1993. A large number of asteroids were investigated. Over 15,000 positions were detected, and orbits were calculated for 2500.
Milorad B. Protić was a Serbian astronomer, discoverer of comets and minor planets, and three times director of the Belgrade Observatory.
Hans Scholl is a German astronomer, who worked at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg, Germany, and at the Côte d'Azur Observatory in Nice, France. In 1999, he was part of a team that discovered three moons of Uranus: Prospero, Setebos and Stephano. He has also co-discovered 55 minor planets together with Italian astronomer Andrea Boattini at ESO's La Silla Observatory site in northern Chile during 2003–2005.
The Uppsala–DLR Trojan Survey is an astronomical survey to study the movements and locations of asteroids near Jupiter, which includes Jupiter trojans and other asteroids, which line-of sight are frequently blocked by the giant planet.
La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observatory is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and was the first in Chile to be used by ESO.
The Phoenix Dwarf is a dwarf irregular galaxy discovered in 1976 by Hans-Emil Schuster and Richard Martin West and mistaken for a globular cluster. It is currently 1.44 Mly away from Earth. Its name comes from the fact that it is part of the Phoenix constellation.
The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that is surveying the sky for moving or variable objects on a continual basis, and also producing accurate astrometry and photometry of already-detected objects. In January 2019 the second Pan-STARRS data release was announced. At 1.6 petabytes, it is the largest volume of astronomical data ever released.
9951 Tyrannosaurus, provisional designation 1990 VK5, is a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 November 1990, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. It was named after Tyrannosaurus, a genus of dinosaurs.
3268 De Sanctis, provisional designation 1981 DD, is a Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 February 1981, by European astronomers Henri Debehogne and Giovanni de Sanctis at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. The asteroid was named after the second discoverer. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 17 hours.
2187 La Silla, provisionally designated 1976 UH, is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter.
1334 Lundmarka, provisional designation 1934 OB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 July 1934, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named after Swedish astronomer Knut Lundmark.
2590 Mourão is a bright Vesta asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 May 1980, by Belgian astronomer Henri Debehogne at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. The V-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.6 hours. It was named after Brazilian astronomer Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão.
The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) is the corporate name for a pair of Belgian optic robotic telescopes. TRAPPIST–South, which is situated high in the Chilean mountains at ESO's La Silla Observatory, came online in 2010, and TRAPPIST–North situated at the Oukaïmeden Observatory in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, came online in 2016.
Luigi Rolly Bedin, is an Italian astrophysicist and researcher at the National Institute of Astrophysics of the Padua Astronomical Observatory. His research focuses on stellar populations in open and globular clusters, exoplanets and nearby brown dwarfs. He is the discoverer with his team of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Bedin I. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union.
