Piszkéstető Station

47°55′05″N 019°53′39″E

Piszkéstető Station

Named after	Piszkés-tető
Organization	Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Observatory code	461
Location	Piszkéstető, Mátra Mountains, Hungary
Coordinates	47°55′05″N 019°53′39″E
Altitude	944 metres (3,097 ft)[1]
Established	1958
Website	www.konkoly.hu/staff/racz/piszkesteto-en.html
Telescopes
Schmidt telescope 60/90/180 cm Cassegrain telescope 50 cm RCC Telescope 100 cm RCC Telescope 40 cm
Location of Piszkéstető Station
Related media on Commons

The Piszkéstető Station or Piszkéstető Mountain Station is an astronomical observatory in Mátraszentimre in Mátra Mountains, about 80 kilometers (50 mi) northeast of Hungary's capital Budapest. It is a station of Konkoly Observatory, first built in 1958. It has the observatory code 461 and 561 for being used by the Szeged University and Konkoly Observatory, respectively.^[2]

Instruments

The observatory currently features four telescopes:^[3]

• 60/90/180-centimetre Schmidt telescope since 1962
• 80-centimetre Ritchey-Chrétien telescope since 2019 (which replaced the 50-centimetre Cassegrain telescope that has been in its place since 1966)
• 1-metre Ritchey–Chrétien telescope since 1974
• 40-centimetre Ritchey–Chrétien telescope since 2010

Discovery of Impactors

Piszkéstető Station discovered 3 of the first 8 impactors which were observed and confirmed while still in orbit: 2022 EB5, 2023 CX1, and 2024 BX1.

The asteroid 2022EB was only the fifth asteroid in history to have been discovered prior to impact. This puts the station in a very short list of observatories that have achieved this feat. Several asteroids impact earth every year with enough force to be detected by infrasound sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices, but the vast majority of impacts are unpredicted and occur without warning.^[4] Piszkéstető Station discovered this asteroid before it impacted.^[5]

2023 CX1 was discovered at the station on February 12, 2023 and impacted the Earth off the coast of Normandy, France.

2024 BX1 was discovered at the station a few hours before it entered the Earth's atmosphere near Berlin on January 21, 2024.^[6]

Honors

The minor planet 37432 Piszkéstető was named after the station, where it was discovered by astronomers Krisztián Sárneczky and Zsuzsanna Heiner in January 2002.^[2]

List of discovered minor planets

See also: Category:Discoveries by the Piszkéstető Station

A total of 19 minor planet discoveries are credited directly to the Piszkéstető Station by the Minor Planet Center.^[7]

181136 Losonczrita	25 August 2005	list
(238623) 2005 CL12	1 February 2005	list
(240364) 2003 SQ129	20 September 2003	list
(290129) 2005 QC152	31 August 2005	list
(334756) 2003 RP7	4 September 2003	list
(345648) 2006 TZ6	1 October 2006	list
(378920) 2008 UP95	24 October 2008	list
(384459) 2010 BM4	24 January 2010	list
(390743) 2003 SD129	20 September 2003	list
(399565) 2003 SZ128	20 September 2003	list

(405571) 2005 QE87	31 August 2005	list
(413233) 2003 SB129	20 September 2003	list
(423380) 2005 JD94	12 May 2005	list
(423433) 2005 QL75	29 August 2005	list
(446957) 2003 SD127	19 September 2003	list
(461650) 2005 GP9	3 April 2005	list
(464745) 2003 RQ7	5 September 2003	list
(469773) 2005 QB76	30 August 2005	list
(474440) 2003 NH5	5 July 2003	list

Gallery

Aerial view of the Piszkéstető Station

See also

• List of asteroid-discovering observatories
• List of astronomical observatories
• List of minor planet discoverers § Discovering dedicated institutions
• List of observatory codes