The Astronomical Observatory of Modra ( sk, Astronomické observatórium Modra), also known as Modra Observatory or the Astronomical and Geophysical observatory in Modra, is an

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. H ...

located in Modra,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. It is owned and operated by the Comenius University in Bratislava. The scientific research at the observatory is led by the Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth and Meteorology,

Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics The Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics (FMPH; sk, FMFI; sk, Fakulta matematiky, fyziky a informatiky; colloquial: ''Matfyz'') is one of 13 faculties of the Comenius University in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The faculty pro ...

. The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...

11118 Modra 11118 Modra (provisional designation ) is a Flora asteroid of uncertain composition from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 August 1996, by Slovak astronomers Adrián Galád an ...

discovered at this observatory is named in the honor of the town.

About

The Astronomical and Geophysical observatory of Comenius University is located near the town of Modra and in the mountain range of

Little Carpathians The Little Carpathians (also: ''Lesser Carpathians'', sk, Malé Karpaty; german: Kleine Karpaten; hu, Kis-Kárpátok) are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slo ...

. The 3.5-hectare area contains several buildings and scientific instruments surrounded by

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

forest. It lies on the middle trias quartzitic bedrock. It is accessible via a tourist trail or by the private paved road from

Zochova chata Zochova Street ( sk, Zochova ulica) is a street in Bratislava's Old Town and Zochova is the name of a major bus stop in Bratislava, located at the point where the street touches Staromestská Street, next to Nový Most in Bratislava, Slovakia. t ...

. The main administrative building with the dome on the top contains the 0.60-metre Zeiss telescope with CCD camera and the 0.20-metre solar telescope with H-alpha filter. Within walking distance there are several buildings and pavilions with scientific devices, such as the magnetic pavilion (measurement of the

Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magneti ...

), the seismic cell with the

seismograph A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The output ...

, the solar telescope dome, the dome with the Schumann resonances registration device and the meteor pavilion of photographic and video meteor detection. The upper building with the 5-metre dome has a 0.70-metre reflecting telescope with CCD primarily for space debris research and registration devices for GPS and forward scatter meteor

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

of the

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

- Modra network (transceiver-receiver-receiver). The lower building, standing next to the pond, consists of a small conference room and housing facility for guests. Since 1988, continuous weather and meteorological observations are done, therefore, the data provide a unique and homogeneous climate record of the site. In 2012 open-air amphitheater with seating, screen, projector and sound system was built for the public outreach purposes.

Education and research

As a part of the

Comenius University Comenius University in Bratislava ( sk, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave) is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is name ...

, the observatory provides research opportunity for students, and the staff offers guidance for the Master and PhD theses. The research is mainly aimed at the interplanetary matter. Until January 2014, 175 numbered and 34 unnumbered asteroids were discovered at the observatory including two Near Earth Objects 2005 GB34 and

2008 UW5 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. The observing time is mostly assigned for the photometry of asteroids and comets and astrometry. The first observation of a transiting

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

was performed at the observatory. The solar physics researchers perform solar prominence and chromosphere features observations in the H-alpha line. The observatory is also a member of the European bolide network and it has been developing its own TV meteor detection grid. Besides photographic all-sky cameras, fish-eye all-sky semi-automated meteor detection devices are located at Modra observatory, near Tesárske Mlyňany and in Kysucké Nové Mesto. In addition to meteor detection, real time all-sky cameras detect other phenomena, such as atmospheric sprites and elves (TLE).

Proposed Wide Field Survey (ADAM-WFS)

Based on the study on detecting close approaching Near-Earth Asteroids scientists of the department proposed a wide-field survey called "Automated Detection of Asteroids and Meteoroids - Wide Field Survey" (ADAM-WFS)http://www.daa.fmph.uniba.sk/adam_en aimed at discovery of small asteroids in the Earth vicinity and orbital debris. In contrast to current asteroid surveys that are based on narrower field of view but deeper limiting magnitude, ADAM-WFS will observe entire visible night sky three times per night and identify moving targets. This survey is also considered as a low-cost project. It will use existing and verified methods and techniques, such as Moving Object Processing Pipeline (used by

Pan-STARRS The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1; obs. code: F51 and Pan-STARRS2 obs. code: F52) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that is ...

NEOWISE Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and SMEX-6) is a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program. It was launched in December 2009, and placed in hibernation mode in February 20 ...

, LSST). The proposed survey is similar to Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. If funded, the telescope will be housed in the Solar dome. File:AGOModra main.jpg, Main operation and administrative building of Modra observatory. File:AGOModra winter.jpg, Winter at the Modra observatory. File:AGOModra lower.jpg, Lower building of the Modra observatory complex. File:AGOModra Leonids98.jpg, Leonid meteor shower detected at Modra observatory, bolides on single photographic plate. File:AGOModra sprite.jpg, Sprites detected above horizon at Modra observatory. File:AGOModra Sun.gif, Active solar area as seen from Modra observatory. File:AGOModra Holmes.jpg, Comet 17P/Holmes from Modra observatory. File:AGOModra Machholz.jpg, Comet C/2004 Q2 Machholz from Modra observatory. File:AGOModra aurora.jpg, Aurora borealis from Modra observatory. File:AGOw1 en.jpg, Climate record at the observatory site. File:Milky Way at Modra.jpg, Autumn Milky Way above the main dome

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite journal , title = Search for very close approaching NEAs , author = P. Vereš , author2 = J. Tóth , author3 = L. Kornoš , volume = 36 , issue = 3 , pages = 171–180 , journal = Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnate Pleso , date = 2006 , url = http://www.ta3.sk/caosp/Eedition/FullTexts/vol36no3/pp171-180.pdf , arxiv = 0902.4018, bibcode = 2006CoSka..36..171V {{cite web , url=http://www.astro.cz/planetky/detail.phtml?number=11118 , title=Planetky - detail (11118) , access-date=2006-05-11 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927004213/http://www.astro.cz/planetky/detail.phtml?number=11118 , archive-date=2006-09-27 {{cite book , title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (11118) Modra , last = Schmadel , first = Lutz D. , publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg , page = 753 , date = 2007 , isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 , doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_8231 , chapter = (11118) Modra

External links

Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory in Modra

Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth and Meteorology, Comenius University

Automated Detection of Asteroids and Meteoroids - Wide Field Survey

at Modra Observatory (Gallery) Asteroid surveys Astronomical observatories in Slovakia Comenius University Minor-planet discovering observatories 1988 establishments in Czechoslovakia