# Ondřejov Observatory

The Ondřejov Observatory (pronounced; Czech: Observatoř Ondřejov) is the principal observatory of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It is located in the municipality of Ondřejov, 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast of Prague, Czech Republic. It has a 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) wide telescope, which is the largest in the Czech Republic.

## History

The facility was constructed in 1898, by Czech amateur astronomer and entrepreneur Josef Jan Frič as a private observatory. On 28 October 1928, he donated the facility to the Czechoslovak state to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its independence. The observatory, located at an altitude of 500 metres (1,600 ft), away from the air and light pollution of urban Prague, was administered by Charles University until the founding of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1953, which from then on operated it as part of its Astronomical Institute in conjunction with other Czechoslovak observatories.
In 1967, a telescope measuring 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in width was added to the observatory, which at that time was the 7th largest telescope in the world. Now it is the largest telescope in the Czech Republic and is in the second hundred in the world.
It has been responsible, among other scientific achievements, for the discovery of numerous asteroids; more recent works of astronomers from Ondřejov include examination of the trajectory and origin of the Chelyabinsk meteor. More than 700 minor planets have been discovered at this observatory. While most of these discoveries are officially credited to the astronomers who discovered them, a remaining 23 minor planets are directly credited to "Ondrejov" (the observatory itself) by the Minor Planet Center for the period 1997–2008.
The main-belt asteroid 7204 Ondřejov, discovered by Petr Pravec in 1995, was named for the village where the observatory is located.
Minor planets discovered: 23 :
* see § List of discovered minor planets

## List of discovered minor planets

| 31139 Garnavich | 25 September 1997 | list |
| 37788 Suchan | 25 September 1997 | list |
| 42924 Betlem | 2 October 1999 | list |
| 42981 Jenniskens | 2 October 1999 | list |
| 53285 Mojmír | 24 March 1999 | list |
| 76713 Wudia | 6 May 2000 | list |
| 82559 Emilbřezina | 28 July 2001 | list |
| (109353) 2001 QS$_{153}$ | 26 August 2001 | list |
| (113389) 2002 SF$_{17}$ | 28 September 2002 | list |
| (119113) 2001 OE$_{77}$ | 28 July 2001 | list |
| 127196 Hanaceplechová | 16 April 2002 | list |
| (131423) 2001 OF$_{77}$ | 29 July 2001 | list |
| (138439) 2000 HD$_{98}$ | 26 April 2000 | list |
| (164782) 1999 DK$_4$ | 16 February 1999 | list |
| (172097) 2002 EX$_{107}$ | 8 March 2002 | list |
| (216476) 1999 SC$_{22}$ | 23 September 1999 | list |
| (264493) 2001 PS$_{50}$ | 15 August 2001 | list |
| (281660) 2008 VQ$_{13}$ | 5 November 2008 | list |
| (286148) 2001 TG$_{217}$ | 14 October 2001 | list |
| (316333) 2010 RP$_{123}$ | 19 September 2001 | list |
| (337680) 2001 TR$_{209}$ | 12 October 2001 | list |
| (352835) 2008 VR$_{13}$ | 6 November 2008 | list |
| (362805) 2011 YZ$_4$ | 2 December 1999 | list |

## Gallery

* Ten-meter solar flux monitor at Ondřejov
* The dome of the 65-cm telescope
* The dome of the 2-m telescope
* Solar Telescope with outer housing
* Horizontal Solar Spectrograph
* Central plain with former J. J. Frič house
* Robotic telescope BART