Cima Ekar is a ridge

Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...

 located about 4 km east of and about 350 m higher than the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 town of Asiago

Asiago

Asiago is the name of both a minor township and the surrounding plateau region in the Province of Vicenza in the Veneto region of Northeastern Italy...

. On the crest of this ridge sits the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory

Asiago Astrophysical Observatory

The Asiago Astrophysical Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of Padua. Founded in 1942, it is located on the plateau of Asiago, 90 km northwest of Padova near the town of Asiago...

, home of a 67/92-cm Schmidt telescope

Schmidt camera

A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. Other similar designs are the Wright Camera and Lurie-Houghton telescope....

 and the 182-cm telescope dedicated to Nicholas Copernicus, the largest telescope in Italy.

Co-located at Cima Ekar is the Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey

Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey

The Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey is a project to search for comets and asteroids, with special emphasis on near-Earth objects.It is a joint venture between the Department of Astronomy of the University of Padua and the DLR - Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration at...

 (ADAS), IAU code 209. At Cima Ekar, Andrea Boattini

Andrea Boattini

Andrea Boattini is an Italian astronomer, a prolific discoverer of asteroids and comets.After developing a growing interest in minor planets, he graduated in 1996 from the University of Bologna with a thesis on near-Earth objects...

, Flavio Castellani, Giuseppe Forti

Giuseppe Forti

Giuseppe Forti was an Italian astronomer and a prolific discoverer of asteroids. He worked at the Arcetri Observatory, in Florence , and several others. He was a member of the third IAU Division: Planetary Systems Sciences. He died on July 2, 2007.- References :...

, Vittorio Goretti

Vittorio Goretti

Vittorio Goretti is an Italian astronomer. He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids at his observatory in Pianoro, on the outskirts of Bologna, Italy., accessed 14 April 2011...

, Ulisse Munari

Ulisse Munari

Ulisse Munari is an Italian astronomer.He is Professor of Astronomy at the University of Padua, and works at the Asiago Observatory. He is a member of the Radial Velocity Experiment team, an all-sky survey using the UK's 1.2m Schmidt telescope in Australia, as well as working with the planned GAIA...

, and Maura Tombelli

Maura Tombelli

Maura Tombelli is an Italian astronomer who began her training in astronomy as an observer of variable stars. She is a prolific discoverer of asteroids.- Education and scientific career :...

 have discovered a great number of asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

s.