Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory

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Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory
National Observatory of Llano del Hato.jpg
Observatory code 303   Blue pencil.svg
Location Mérida, Venezuela Blue pencil.svg
Coordinates Coordinates: 8°47′11″N70°52′19″W / 8.78639°N 70.87189°W / 8.78639; -70.87189
Venezuela relief location map (+claimed).jpg
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Location of Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory
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The Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory (Spanish : OAN de Llano del Hato, or Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Llano del Hato, code: 303) is an astronomical observatory in Venezuela. It is 3600 meters above sea level and is the country's main observatory. It is situated above the village of Llano del Hato in the Venezuelan Andes, not far from Apartaderos which lies about 50 kilometers north-east of Mérida, Mérida State.

Spanish language Romance language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

Venezuela Republic in northern South America

Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and a large number of small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. With this last country, the Venezuelan government maintains a claim for Guayana Esequiba over an area of 159,542 km2. For its maritime areas, it exercises sovereignty over 71,295 km2 of territorial waters, 22,224 km2 in its contiguous zone, 471,507 km2 of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean under the concept of exclusive economic zone, and 99,889 km2 of continental shelf. This marine area borders those of 13 states. The country has extremely high biodiversity and is ranked seventh in the world's list of nations with the most number of species. There are habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon basin rain-forest in the south via extensive llanos plains, the Caribbean coast and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.

Sea level Average level for the surface of the ocean at any given geographical position on the planetary surface

Mean sea level (MSL) is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earth's oceans from which heights such as elevation may be measured. MSL is a type of vertical datum – a standardised geodetic datum – that is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation, or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a mean low and mean high tide at a particular location.

Contents

Description

This facility is the closest major optical observatory to the equator lying at 8 degrees and 47.51 minutes north. It therefore has access to most parts of both the northern and southern skies. It benefits from a very dark site, and its altitude of 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level means atmospheric turbulence is greatly reduced.

Equator Intersection of a spheres surface with the plane perpendicular to the spheres axis of rotation and midway between the poles

An equator of a rotating spheroid is its zeroth circle of latitude (parallel). It is the imaginary line on the spheroid, equidistant from its poles, dividing it into northern and southern hemispheres. In other words, it is the intersection of the spheroid with the plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation and midway between its geographical poles.

The observatory is under the auspices of the Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomia (CIDA), the main astronomical research body in Venezuela. CIDA conducts many projects in collaboration with other research organizations, academic institutions and international bodies. It also conducts valuable research in its own right and has a record that includes several important discoveries.

The Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía (CIDA) is an institution in Venezuela, founded in honour of Francisco J. Duarte in 1975 for promoting observation, investigation, experimentation, theoretical work, and dissemination of research in the field of astronomy. It runs the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory and is one of the collaborators in QUEST.

There are four large optical telescopes, each in its own cupola or dome: a 1-m Askania Schmidt camera (one of the largest telescopes of this type in the world), a 65-cm Zeiss refractor, a 1-m Zeiss reflector and a 50-cm Askania double astrograph. These instruments were acquired by the Venezuelan government 1954 and installed at Llano del Hato in early 1955. The observatory also has a museum and exhibition centre where visitors can learn about the work of the observatory and CIDA as well as astronomy in general.

Optical telescope Telescope for observations with visible light

An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light, mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct view, or to make a photograph, or to collect data through electronic image sensors.

In architecture, a cupola is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.

Schmidt camera scientific instrument

A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930.

The Quasar Equatorial Survey Team (QUEST) project is a joint venture between Yale University, Indiana University, and CIDA to photographically survey the sky. It now uses the 48 inch (1.22-m) aperture Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory with a digital camera, an array of 112 charge-coupled devices. Previously, it used the 1.0-metre Schmidt telescope of the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory.

The Quasar Equatorial Survey Team (QUEST) is a joint venture between Yale University, Indiana University, and Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomia (CIDA) to photographically survey the sky using a digital camera, an array of 112 charge-coupled devices. Since 2009, it has used the 1 m ESO Schmidt Telescope in Chile. From 2003–2007, it used the 48 inch (1.22 m) Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory. Before that, it had used the 1.0-metre Schmidt telescope at the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory in Venezuela.

Yale University private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution.

Indiana University university system, Indiana, U.S.

Indiana University (IU) is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 110,000 students, which includes approximately 46,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus.

List of discovered minor planets

At OAN de Llano del Hato, Mérida, a total of 50 minor planets have been discovered and credited to the astronomers Orlando Naranjo, Jürgen Stock, Ignacio Ferrín and Carlos Leal: [1]

9357 Venezuela 11 January 1992 list   [A]
(9605) 1992 AP311 January 1992 list   [A]
(10344) 1992 CA212 February 1992 list   [A] [B]
(11089) 1994 CS88 February 1994 list   [A]
11193 Mérida 11 December 1998 list   [A]
12359 Cajigal 22 September 1993 list   [A]
12360 Unilandes 22 September 1993 list   [A]
12366 Luisapla 8 February 1994 list   [A]
12367 Ourinhos 8 February 1994 list   [A]
12758 Kabudari 22 September 1993 list   [A]
(14005) 1993 SO322 September 1993 list   [A]
(14918) 1994 BP421 January 1994 list   [A]
15050 Heddal 12 December 1998 list   [A]
15453 Brasileirinhos 12 December 1998 list   [A]
(16565) 1992 CZ112 February 1992 list   [A] [B]
16645 Aldalara 22 September 1993 list   [A]
17494 Antaviana 11 January 1992 list   [A]
(17873) 1998 XO9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(23501) 1992 CK112 February 1992 list   [A] [B]
(29691) 1998 XH9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(29692) 1998 XE9711 December 1998 list   [A]
(31384) 1998 XE9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(31385) 1998 XF9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(35678) 1998 XW9611 December 1998 list   [A]
38628 Huya 10 March 2000 list   [C]
(48565) 1994 CA98 February 1994 list   [A]
(49430) 1998 XZ9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(56065) 1998 XB9712 December 1998 list   [A]
(59151) 1998 XK9612 December 1998 list   [A]
(66189) 1998 XA9712 December 1998 list   [A]
74400 Streaky 11 December 1998 list   [A]
79864 Pirituba 11 December 1998 list   [A]
79889 Maloka 8 January 1999 list   [A]
(91210) 1998 XS9611 December 1998 list   [A]
(96609) 1999 AQ359 January 1999 list   [A]
(120997) 1998 XT9611 December 1998 list   [A]
127870 Vigo 24 March 2003 list   [C] [D]
128166 Carora 27 August 2003 list   [C] [D]
(137096) 1998 XG9711 December 1998 list   [A]
149528 Simónrodríguez 24 March 2003 list   [C] [D]
159776 Eduardoröhl 2 May 2003 list   [C] [D]
161278 Cesarmendoza 24 March 2003 list   [C] [D]
189310 Polydamas 3 January 2006 list   [C]
196476 Humfernandez 2 May 2003 list   [C] [D]
201497 Marcelroche 2 May 2003 list   [C] [D]
(237422) 1999 AF359 January 1999 list   [A]
347940 Jorgezuluaga 30 March 2003 list   [C] [D]
366272 Medellín 30 March 2003 list   [C] [D]
(368628) 2004 UJ1020 October 2004 list   [E]
(423624) 2005 WZ15627 November 2005 list   [C]
Co-discovery made with:
A O. A. Naranjo
B J. Stock
C I. R. Ferrín
D C. Leal
 E anomaly in MPC's data base as discovery observation was made by A84 in Turkey

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References

  1. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
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