Observatory code | 848 [1] | ||
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Location | Lane County, Oregon near Cottage Grove | ||
Coordinates | 43°42′8.72″N122°58′41.16″W / 43.7024222°N 122.9781000°W [2] | ||
Altitude | 207 m | ||
Established | 1998 | ||
Telescopes | |||
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Observatory code | 926 [1] | ||||||
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Location | Santa Cruz County, Arizona near Patagonia, Arizona | ||||||
Coordinates | 31°27′43.36″N110°52′44.76″W / 31.4620444°N 110.8791000°W [2] | ||||||
Altitude | 4,003 ft (1,220 m) | ||||||
Established | 2000 | ||||||
Telescopes | |||||||
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Tenagra Observatory and Tenagra Observatory II are astronomical observatories in Cottage Grove, Oregon and Arizona. The observatories house heavily automated robotic telescopes.
Circa 2016, the observatory was utilized with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope a member of the Lick Observatory and Tenagra Observatory Supernova Searches (LOTOSS). [3]
Beginning in 2018, after a NASA grant to owner Michael Schwartz expired, control of the Arizona observatory was turned over to Gianluca Masi 's Virtual Telescope project. [4]
The observatory near Cottage Grove, Oregon was constructed c. 1998, and had a 14-inch (360 mm) Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain with a SBIG CCD imager, probably upgraded to Apogee Instruments later. [5] [6]
The Arizona observatory at Patagonia, 20 miles from Nogales, began operations in 2000. Tenagra II is a custom-made 32-inch (810 mm) Ritchey-Chretien telescope manufactured by SciTech Astronomical Research, in operation since 2001. [7] [4] [6] "Pearl" is a 16-inch (410 mm) f/3.75 corrected Newtonian. [5] There is also a 24-inch (610 mm) SciTech Ritchey-Chretien, and another 14-inch Celestron. [6]
The Oregon site was in use as of 2004 as a backup site, during the Southwest monsoon season. [6]
The robotic telescopes can image 1,000 galaxies in an evening for supernova discovery. [6] Using the Oregon Tenagra I telescope, its maker became "the first amateur to achieve consistent supernova discoveries" by using a robotic telescope "to patrol hundreds of galaxies each night". [8]
The Oregon observatory reported 77 Minor Planet Electronic Circulars between 1999 and 2002. [2]
The Oregon observatory discovered supernova SN 1997cx . [9]
Paulo R. Holvorcem (Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil) and Michael Schwartz (Patagonia, Arizona) discovered comet C/2011 K1 (Schwartz-Holvorcem) in May 2011. [10] [11]
Comet 274P/Tombaugh-Tenagra is named for the observatory and Clyde Tombaugh. Tombaugh initially discovered it in January 1931, [12] but was not recovered until 2012. It was provisionally named Comet P/2012 WX_32 (Tenagra) when recovered by Michael Schwartz and Paulo R. Holvorcem using Tenagra II. [13]
The observatory's Tenagra IV instrument, along with Palomar Observatory's Samuel Oschin telescope, was the second to image dwarf planet Sedna, providing confirmation of its discovery and refining its orbital parameters. [14]
In 2018, Pearl imaged the Tesla Roadster in space, [15] when it had a magnitude of 15.5, [16] comparable to Pluto's moon Charon.
In 2018, imagery from the Arizona observatory was livestreamed by Gianluca Masi during the 2018 DV1 close approach to Earth as a Virtual Telescope project outreach event. [17] Images of the Tiangong-1 space station in its decaying orbit were livestreamed in 2018, a few days before reentry. [18]
2013 Edgar Wilson Award [19]
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observatory is granted to Caltech and its research partners, which include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Yale University, and the National Optical Observatories of China.
David Howard Levy is a Canadian amateur astronomer, science writer and discoverer of comets and minor planets, who co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in 1993, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.
John Broughton is an Australian amateur astronomer and artist. He is among the most prolific discoverers of minor planets worldwide, credited by the Minor Planet Center with more than a thousand discoveries made between 1997 and 2008. His observations are done at Reedy Creek Observatory, in Queensland, Australia.
Paulo Renato Centeno Holvorcem is a Brazilian amateur astronomer and mathematician who lives in Brasilia, Brazil.
Gianluca Masi is an Italian astrophysicist and astronomer, as well as a discoverer of minor planets and variable stars.
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 by a human, even if a human has to initiate the observations at the beginning of the night or end them in the morning. It may have software agents using artificial intelligence that assist in various ways such as automatic scheduling. A robotic telescope is distinct from a remote telescope, though an instrument can be both robotic and remote.
Winer Observatory is an astronomical observatory near Sonoita, Arizona in the United States. It is a private, non-profit observatory, operated by Mark Trueblood since 1983. It has been the site of a number of significant small telescopes and famous robotic telescopes. It has been the site of the Iowa Robotic Observatory. The facility also hosted Michael Schwartz's telescope, active in supernova patrols, until Tenagra Observatories opened a facility in the area. Is the site of the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope.
An astrograph is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, and comets.
Leuschner Observatory, originally called the Students' Observatory, is an observatory jointly operated by the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. The observatory was built in 1886 on the Berkeley campus. For many years, it was directed by Armin Otto Leuschner, for whom the observatory was renamed in 1951. In 1965, it was relocated to its present home in Lafayette, California, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Berkeley campus. In 2012, the physics and astronomy department of San Francisco State University became a partner.
Jeffrey S. Medkeff, usually known as Jeff Medkeff, was a prominent science writer and educator. He was also a designer of robotic telescopes, a minor philanthropist, and an advocate of personal and sexual freedom.
James Whitney Young is an American astronomer who worked in the field of asteroid research. After nearly 47 years with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at their Table Mountain Facility, Young retired July 16, 2009.
Martin P. Mobberley is a British amateur astronomer, author, and former electronics engineer.
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Puckett Observatory is a private astronomical observatory located in the state of Georgia. It is owned and operated by Tim Puckett. Its primary observation goals are the study of comets and the discovery of supernovae. To facilitate the latter goal it sponsors the Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search whose astronomers have discovered 369 supernovae.
The Astronomical Society of New South Wales (ASNSW) is an amateur astronomy club in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1954, the society currently has over 400 members.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual astronomy photography competition and exhibition that is organised by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Hereford Arizona Observatory (HAO), IAU-code G95, is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by amateur astronomer Bruce L. Gary. Observational studies of unusual starlight fluctuations in Tabby's Star and WD 1145+017 are recent interests.
Gennadiy Vladimirovich Borisov is a Ukrainian telescope maker and amateur astronomer who discovered the first-known interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov, in 2019.
Now in its 15th year, the Edgar Wilson Award recognizes comet discoveries made by amateur observers. The 2013 awards honor seven dedicated individuals who scan the skies.
[S]upernova patroller Michael Schwartz, director of his private "Tenagra" Observatory in Oregon, showed the way by acquiring one of the first Paramount GT1100 [computer controlled telescope mounts] and coupling it to a Celestron 14 Optical Tube Assembly ... Michael was really the first amateur to achieve consistent supernova discoveries by using the Paramount to patrol hundreds of galaxies each night.