An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks from view (occults) an object in the background. In this general sense, occultation applies to the visual scene observed from low-flying aircraft when foreground objects obscure distant objects dynamically, as the scene changes over time.
Observational astronomy is a division of astronomy that is concerned with recording data about the observable universe, in contrast with theoretical astronomy, which is mainly concerned with calculating the measurable implications of physical models. It is the practice and study of observing celestial objects with the use of telescopes and other astronomical instruments.
The Apache Point Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU) and owned by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC). Access to the telescopes and buildings is private and restricted.
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 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.
A grazing lunar occultation is a lunar occultation in which as the occulted star disappears and reappears intermittently on the edge of the Moon. A team of many observers can combine grazes and reconstruct an accurate profile of the limb lunar terrain.
Tisvilde is a small town with a population of 1,412 located on the north coast of the island Zealand (Sjælland) in Denmark 60 km (37 mi) in Gribskov Municipality, northeast of Hillerød.
The Fick Observatory was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Iowa State University. Located southwest of Boone, Iowa, it was named after Davenport, Iowa, amateur astronomer Erwin W. Fick. The observatory closed in 2015.
The National Observatory of Athens is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece. The Observatory was the first scientific research institute built after Greece became independent in 1829, and one of the oldest research institutes in Southern Europe. It was built around the same period as the United States Naval Observatory.
The University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory, located at 901 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, was built in 1896, and was designed by Charles A. Gunn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 1986, and on December 20, 1989, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Airdrie Public Observatory is a fully operational, historic astronomical observatory, which is part of the library building in the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. There are only four public observatories operating in the United Kingdom, all of which are in Scotland. Airdrie Observatory is the smallest, and second oldest.
David Stanley Evans was a British astronomer, noted for his use of lunar occultations to measure stellar angular diameters during the 1950s.
Ursa Astronomical Association is the largest astronomical association in Finland. Ursa was founded on 2 November 1921. Founding members include a renowned Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä. In 1926 Ursa established the Ursa Observatory in Kaivopuisto district of Helsinki. In 2007 the Tähtikallio Observatory & Education Center was established in Artjärvi, its current equipment includes an Astrofox 36" Folded Newtonian Open tube telescope, an Alluna 16" Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, a Meade 16" LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, a Sky-Watcher ED 120mm refractor telescope fitted with a Baader AstroSolar Solar Filter and a piggybacked Coronado SolarMax 40 H-Alpha telescope. Ursa's primary functions include advancing amateur astronomy and astronomical education. They have also published a magazine Tähdet ja avaruus since 1971. Anyone can join Ursa for an annual fee.
The Von Braun Astronomical Society is a society of amateur and professional astronomers dedicated to education and public outreach on behalf of astronomy based in Huntsville, Alabama, United States.
Corralitos Observatory was an astronomical observatory located in the Rough and Ready Hills approximately 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was formally dedicated on October 12, 1965, serving as a remote station of Dearborn Observatory, Northwestern University. In October 1965, a NASA program to detect transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) was begun by the staff. Using two-person observer teams, a total of 6,466 man-hours of lunar observation was recorded. The program was run until 1972 but did not confirm any TLP. Using ninety-eight selected reports of TLPs received from amateurs during this period, 39 were checked from Corralitos Observatory.
Catalina Station (CS), also known as Steward Observatory Catalina Station, is an astronomical observing facility located on Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately 29 kilometers (18 mi) northeast of Tucson, Arizona. The site in the Coronado National Forest is used with special permission from the United States Forest Service by the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona.
The Danish Astronomical Society (Dansk Astronomisk Selskab) was founded in 1916 'with the purpose of acting for the spread of knowledge and interest in astronomy and astronomical research'. According to its own description, its address varies. The Society is open to anyone with a desire to learn more about astronomy, and gives members access to talks and lectures by astronomers and astrophysicists, and allows them to use equipment at the N.P. Wieth-Knudsen Observatory in Tisvilde to observe astronomical phenomena. It also disseminates news on upcoming conferences, lectures and events, as well as general information on upcoming astronomical events such as eclipses and comets, and lists of observatories and other facilities. The current president of Danish Astronomical Society is Majken B. E. Christensen.
The minor planet and centaur 10199 Chariklo, with a diameter of about 250 kilometres (160 mi), is the smallest celestial object with confirmed rings and the fifth ringed celestial object discovered in the Solar System, after the gas giants and ice giants. Orbiting Chariklo is a bright ring system consisting of two narrow and dense bands, 6–7 km (4 mi) and 2–4 km (2 mi) wide, separated by a gap of 9 kilometres (6 mi). The rings orbit at distances of about 400 kilometres (250 mi) from the centre of Chariklo, a thousandth the distance between Earth and the Moon. The discovery was made by a team of astronomers using ten telescopes at various locations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in South America during observation of a stellar occultation on 3 June 2013, and was announced on 26 March 2014.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual astronomy photography competition and exhibition that is organised by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
The International Lunar Observatory (ILO) is a private scientific and commercial lunar mission by International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) of Kamuela, Hawaii to place a small observatory near the South Pole of the Moon to conduct astrophysical studies using an optical telescope. The mission aims to prove a conceptual design for a lunar observatory that would be reliable, low cost, and fast to implement. A precursor mission, ILO-X consisting of two small imagers, is set to launch in 2023 aboard the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission to Vallis Schröteri on the Moon's near side. It is hoped to be a technology precursor to a future observatories on the Moon, and other commercial initiatives.
The Sheepshanks Equatorial Telescope was a 6.7-inch (170 mm) aperture refracting telescope installed in 1838 at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The telescope was donated to the observatory by the astronomer Richard Sheepshanks. The telescope had a doublet objective lens made by Cauchoix of Paris. Originally it was mounted on a clockwork driven equatorial mounting by the Grubb Telescope Company on a stone pillar.
