Asteroid Melbourne

Asteroid or minor planet 336698 Melbourne was named in honor of the Melbourne Observatory,  which once housed the largest telescope in the world.

The space rock 336698 Melbourne circles the Sun every five and a half years between the paths of Mars and Jupiter. German amateur astronomer Erwin Schwab discovered the asteroid on 2010-February-5  in a distance to Earth of 310 million km. He detected this asteroid from his hometown Egelsbach in Germany using a remotely operated telescope at Moorook, South Australia. The remote controlled access was provided by the Tzec Maun Foundation. It is noteworthy that the aperture of telescope used was only 15 centimeters (6-inch) in diameter.

The naming was published in the minor planet circular  # 84384 on 22  July 2013 as follows:

(336698) Melbourne = 2010 CJ
    Discovered 2010 Feb. 5 by E. Schwab at Tzec Maun.

    Melbourne is the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. The Melbourne Observatory, which was in operation from 1863 to 1944, once housed the largest telescope in the world. The Royal Botanic Gardens and the Astronomical Society of Victoria maintain this important historical Observatory.

bullet Follow-up observations from Optical Ground Station of the European Space Agency (ESA OGS) in Tenerife, Spain.
bullet Minor Planet (336698) Melbourne = 2010 CJ @ JPL – NASA
bullet Astronomical Society of Victoria
bullet Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne