viernes, 7 de octubre de 2011

TWO MORE ROCKS

GANYMEDE 1036
1036 Ganymed
Ganymede 1036 is a NEO with a size of 32 kms and a very well known orbit.
Was discovered by Walter Baade in 1924 and it has a roughly spherical shape.
Next week, the october 13th it wil pass at the distance of  53,721,200 kms from earth so its a good time to observe it.

ALPHONSINA 925 
925 Alphonsina

This is a very special asteroid to me, because it was discovered from my natal city, Barcelona, in 1920, when, of course, it had a dark sky. The discoverer was the catalan astronomer Josep Comas Solà, possibly the most important astronomer of this country in that time. He discovered a lot more of asteroids and he died at the age of 69 of a lung illness accelerate by the cold and wet nights beside the telescope.
And what about the place where the discovery was made from? The Fabra Observatory, with MPC code 006 from 1914. It is place middle way up climbing the Tibidabo mountain. From there at night, now you can only see the spectacular light polluted view of Barcelona, but once long time ago, it was a very pleasant place to observe the night sky.