Badlands Observatory facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Badlands Observatory |
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| Organization | Badlands Observatory LLC | ||||
| Code | 918 | ||||
| Location | Quinn, South Dakota, US | ||||
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Coordinates
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43°59′27″N 102°7′51″W / 43.99083°N 102.13083°W
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| Website www.badlandsobservatory.com[1] |
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The Badlands Observatory is a special place in Quinn, South Dakota, USA. It's where people use powerful telescopes to look at space. The observatory is named after the beautiful Badlands National Park nearby. It helps us learn more about our solar system and beyond.
This observatory was started in the year 2000. An American amateur astronomer named Ron Dyvig created it. He used to work with big telescopes at places like Kitt Peak Observatory.
Discoveries at the Observatory
The Badlands Observatory is famous for finding many small objects in space. These are called minor planets, like asteroids. As of 2016, 25 numbered minor planets were discovered here.
The Minor Planet Center, which keeps track of all these discoveries, gives credit to Ron Dyvig and the observatory. One cool discovery was asteroid 26715 South Dakota. Ron Dyvig found it in 2001. It was named after the state where the observatory is located.
Another minor planet, (315495) 2008 AQ3, was found in 2008. An Italian astronomer, Fabrizio Tozzi, discovered it. He used the Badlands Observatory's telescope from far away, over the internet!
Helping Stargazers
When the observatory first opened, it was in an old medical building. The town of Quinn helped out a lot. They put special covers on the street lights. This was to reduce light pollution. Light pollution happens when city lights make it hard to see the stars clearly. By reducing it, the observatory can get better views of space.
See also
- List of asteroid-discovering observatories
- List of astronomical observatories
- List of minor planet discoverers § Discovering dedicated institutions
- List of observatory codes
