Minami-Oda Observatory

Minami-Oda Observatory was a private observatory in Kobe, Japan, active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, whose astrometric work helped credit its observers with the discovery of more than a dozen asteroids.

About Minami-Oda Observatory

Located in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, and assigned the IAU observatory code 374, Minami-Oda was a private observatory equipped with 0.6-metre class telescopes for astrometric photography and CCD imaging, alongside a 0.25-metre f/3.4 Schmidt camera used to detect slow-moving objects. It was active from 1989 to 1992, during a period when Japan's network of private observatories produced a wave of amateur asteroid discoveries.

History

During its active years, astronomers Toshiro Nomura and Koyo Kawanishi co-discovered 13 main-belt asteroids from Minami-Oda between 1989 and 1992. Matsuo Sugano, working from the same site, discovered a further 4 main-belt asteroids between 1990 and 1994.

Location & getting there

The observatory was located in Kobe, in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture.

See your named star from here

Minami-Oda's astrometric telescopes were built to pin down exact positions in the sky, the same idea behind the right ascension and declination on a named star certificate. If you've named a star with Star Register, those coordinates are what any telescope, anywhere, needs to find it.