Sternwarte Mirasteilas, Astronomical observatory in Falera, Switzerland

Sternwarte Mirasteilas is an astronomical observatory in Falera with a large telescope positioned on elevated terrain to study the night sky free from light interference. The facility takes advantage of its remote Alpine location to conduct unobstructed observations of stars, planets, and other celestial objects.

In 2001 the innkeeper José De Queiroz, a Portuguese-born member of the Astronomical Society of the Grisons, held the first astronomy meeting in Falera; a 2002 telescope meeting raised the idea of an observatory. The town meeting approved a loan of 690,000 Swiss francs on 5 December 2005, ground was broken on 9 May 2006, and the observatory opened on 22 June 2007.

Mirasteilas is Romansh for "stargazer", the name given to the observatory opened in 2007. It is run by the Astronomical Society of the Grisons, whose roughly 30 trained demonstrators guide visitors, and public tours are held on Fridays and Saturdays or by appointment. The restaurant room also hosts introductory sessions and bad-weather programmes when the sky is overcast.

The observatory welcomes visitors regularly, and on clear nights you can look through the telescope and explore the night sky. Plan to spend adequate time there and check opening hours ahead of time, as these vary depending on the season and weather conditions.

The asteroid (233943) Falera, about 3 km across, was discovered here on 21 November 2009 by observatory founder José De Queiroz; the IAU approved the name in May 2010. It orbits the Sun at roughly 471 million km and takes 5.5 years per orbit. At discovery it lay 315 million km from Earth and was over 16,000 times fainter than naked-eye stars.