Nihondaira Observatory (also known as Oohira Station, Obs. code:

385 Year 385 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius, Augustus and Bauto (or, less frequently, year 1138 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

) is an

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

that is located on a hill overlooking Shimizu,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It has been the source for numerous discoveries of

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

by astronomer Takeshi Urata. In 2007, the observatory was ranked 43rd in the number of asteroids discovered, with a total of 163, but has since lost its ranking, as the top 50 discovery sites have all discovered more than 400 bodies as of 2016. The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

's code for the observatory is

. The asteroid 2880 Nihondaira, discovered by astronomer Tsutomu Seki, is named for this observatory. It is often called by its location, Shizuoka.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2880) Nihondaira , last = Schmadel , first = Lutz D. , publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg , page = 237 , date = 2007 , isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 , doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_2881 , chapter = (2880) Nihondaira {{cite web , title = Minor Planet Discovery Sites , publisher =

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

, date = 24 February 2016 , url = http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPDiscSites.html , accessdate = 4 February 2016 {{cite web , title = List Of Observatory Codes , publisher = Minor Planet Center , url = http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/ObsCodes.html , accessdate = 4 February 2016 Astronomical observatories in Japan

See also

References