Farpoint Observatory facts for kids

Farpoint Observatory is a special place where people study space! It's an astronomical observatory. It is owned and run by the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers' League, also known as NEKAAL. You can find it in Eskridge, Kansas, near Auburn, Kansas. This is about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Topeka, Kansas, in the United States. It's even located on the grounds of Mission Valley High School.

Discovering Space at Farpoint

Farpoint Observatory has a special code, 734, from the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This means it's a recognized place for studying space. It's also home to the Farpoint Asteroid Search Team (FAST). This team is famous around the world!

What the FAST Team Does

The FAST team has found more than 330 asteroids that are not near Earth. They have also found many asteroids that travel close to Earth. As of 2014, observers at Farpoint had shared many asteroid observations. They sent these to the IAU's Minor Planet Center. This helps scientists track objects in space.

The Powerful Telescope

NASA gave NEKAAL a grant of $56,060. This money helped them get and set up a special telescope at Farpoint. This telescope, called the Pitt telescope, came from the University of Kansas. After being fixed up, it became very powerful.

• It measures 27 inches (69 cm) across its main mirror.
• It is 9 feet 3 inches (2.8 meters) long.
• It weighs 1,600 pounds (725 kg).

This large telescope helps the team find and study asteroids.

An Asteroid Named Farpoint

In 1999, two amateur astronomers, Gary Hug and Graham E. Bell, discovered an asteroid. They found it while working at Farpoint Observatory. This asteroid is called 23989 Farpoint. It was named after the observatory itself! This shows how important Farpoint is in discovering new things in space.

See also

In Spanish: Observatorio Farpoint para niños