Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams

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Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams

The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) is the official international clearing house

Clearing house

A clearing house is an institution that collects and distributes information. There are several domains in which they are used, and specific clearing houses of note:...
for information relating to transient astronomical events.

The CBAT collects and distributes information on comet

Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
s, natural satellites, nova

Nova

A nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion caused by the Accretion of hydrogen onto the surface of a white dwarf star. Novae are not to be confused with Type Ia supernovae, or another form of stellar explosion first announced by Caltech in May 2007, Luminous Red Novae....
e, supernova

Supernova

A supernova is a Astronomy#Stellar astronomy explosion. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months....
e and other transient astronomical events. CBAT also establishes priority of discovery (who gets credit for it) and assigns initial designations and names to new objects.

On behalf of the International Astronomical Union

International Astronomical Union

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Encyclopedia

The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) is the official international clearing house

Clearing house

Comet

Nova

Supernova

International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy....
(IAU), the CBAT distributes IAU Circulars (IAUCs). From the 1920s to the 1990s, the CBAT sent telegrams in urgent cases although most circulars were sent via regular mail

Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
. Since the mid 1980s the IAUCs and the related Minor Planet Circular

Minor Planet Circular

The Minor Planet Circulars are published generally on the date of each full moon by the Minor Planet Center. The Circulars contain astrometric observations, orbits and ephemerides of both minor planets and comets....
(MPC) have been available electronically.

The Central Bureau --- founded in 1882 at Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the Capital and most populous city of the northern Germany state Schleswig-Holstein.Kiel is approximately 90 km to the north of Hamburg....
, Germany --- was moved to Copenhagen University Observatory

Copenhagen University Observatory

K?benhavns Universitet Astronomisk Observatorium on ?stervold is an astronomy observatory owned and operated by Copenhagen University . It is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has been in operation since 1861....
during World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. In 1922, the IAU made the Central Bureau in Copenhagen its official Bureau Central des Télégrammes Astronomiques (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams). On January 1, 1965, the CBAT moved to the Harvard College Observatory

Harvard College Observatory

The Harvard College Observatory is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomy research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy....
, to be operated there by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. It has remained in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England....
to this day. The HCO had maintained a western-hemisphere Central Bureau from 1883 until the IAU's CBAT moved there at the end of 1964, so logically the HCO staff took over the IAU's Bureau.

The CBAT is a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

A nonprofit organization is any organization that does not aim to make a profit, and which is not a public body....
but charges for its services to finance its continued operation.

External links

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