Kleť Observatory is an astronomical

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 observatory

Observatory

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

 in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. It is situated in South Bohemia, south of the summit of Mount Kleť, near the town of České Budějovice

Ceské Budejovice

České Budějovice is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region and centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice and of the University of South Bohemia and the Academy of Sciences...

. Constructed in 1957, the observatory is at an altitude of 1070 meters (3510 feet) and has around 150 clear nights per year.

Astronomers

Astronomer Antonín Mrkos

Antonín Mrkos

Antonín Mrkos was a Czech astronomer, born in Střemchoví, Czechoslovakia.- Biography :Mrkos entered the University in Brno in 1938. His studies were interrupted by the onset of World War II, and in 1945 he became a staff member at the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory in Slovakia...

 worked here from 1966-1991.

Two main astronomers who currently work at Kleť Observatory are Jana Tichá

Jana Tichá

Jana Tichá is a Czech astronomer. She studied at the University of Economics in Prague and graduated in 1987. In 1992 she was selected for the position of a director of the Kleť Observatory. She specializes in discoveries of asteroids and comets especially Near-Earth objects...

 and her husband Miloš Tichý

Miloš Tichý

Miloš Tichý is a Czech astronomer. He is married to Jana Tichá.He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids. He works together with his wife at Kleť Observatory. The asteroid 3337 Miloš is named after him....

.

Instruments

The observatory has two primary telescopes:

• 1.06-m KLENOT telescope (since 2002)
• 0.57-m f/5.2 reflector (since 1993)

Asteroids

The asteroid 7796 Járacimrman

7796 Járacimrman

7796 JáraCimrman is an asteroid orbiting in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. It belongs to the IIa family of asteroids. It cannot approach the Earth nearer than 197 million km.- The discovery :...

 was (re)discovered at Kleť Observatory on 16 January 1996 by Zdeněk Moravec

Zdenek Moravec

Zdeněk Moravec is a Czech astronomer.He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids.-References:...

 and was designated 1996 BG. It was observed until April 1996 and then in June and July 1997. It was discovered to be a lost asteroid which had previously been observed twice: at the Brera-Merate Observatory

Brera Astronomical Observatory

The Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera is an astronomical observatory. Built in the historic palace of Brera in Milan, Italy in 1764 by Jesuits, the observatory passed in to the hands of the government in 1773 and has passed from government to government control ever since....

in northern Italy

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...

 on 12 December 1973 and at Siding Spring Observatory

Siding Spring Observatory

Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National University , incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National...

 (Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

) on 8 and 9 July 1990.

External links