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Haute-Provence Observatory
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{{Infobox observatory | caption= The 1.93 meter aperture telescope, installed in 1958}} {| class="wikitable floatright" style="font-size: 0.9em; width: 270px;" |+ [[Minor planet]]s discovered: 6 <ref name="MPC-Discoverers" /> |- | ''see {{section link||List of discovered minor planets}}'' |} The '''Haute-Provence Observatory''' ('''OHP''', {{langx|fr|'''Observatoire de Haute-Provence'''}}) is an [[astronomical observatory]] in the southeast of France, about 90 km east of [[Avignon]] and 100 km north of [[Marseille]]. It was established in 1937 as a national facility for [[France|French]] [[astronomer]]s. Astronomical observations began in 1943 using the 1.20 m [[telescope]], and the first research papers based on observations made at the observatory were published in 1944. Foreign observers first used the observatory in 1949, when [[Geoffrey Burbidge|Geoffrey]] and [[Margaret Burbidge]] visited. The observatory lies at an altitude of about 650 m, on a [[plateau]] near the village of [[Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire]] in the [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]] ''[[département in France|département]]''. The site was chosen for an observatory because of its generally very favourable observing conditions. On average, 60% of nights are suitable for astronomical observations, with the best seasons being summer and autumn. About 170 nights per year on average are completely [[cloud]]less. The [[Astronomical seeing|seeing]] is usually around 2" but can reach 1" or lower on occasion. Seeing degrades severely, sometimes to over 10", when the cold [[Mistral (wind)|Mistral]] wind blows from the northwest. This happens on about 45 days per year on average, mostly during winter. Good weather conditions often follow a [[Mistral (wind)|Mistral]]. On average, atmospheric absorption at OHP is roughly twice that seen at the [[European Southern Observatory]] (ESO) at [[La Silla Observatory|La Silla, Chile]]. The main-belt asteroid [[7755 Haute-Provence]], discovered by Belgian astronomer [[Eric Elst]] in 1989, was named for the region where the discovering observatory is located.<ref name="springer" />
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