After the drive units of the large dome were overhauled, we had to seal some joints and ducts. Since these cannot be reached by ladders from the outside, we used a lifting platform and also cleaned the dome from pollen...
Eleven years ago, the STScI, together with professional astronomers, was the main organizer of a long-term observation campaign at the Teide Observatory on Tenerife. At that time we investigated the behaviour of a...
This week a group from the HBW-house “Haus am Konradsberg” in Wiehl visited our observatory. After an introduction to the possibilities of the school lab, Klaus Vollmann made a special impression with the...
A distinguished visitor from Barcelona! Nauel (7 years) had already heard about our school observatory and wanted to have a look at the instruments. Under a cloudy sky this was unfortunately only possible by observing...
Our large dome is now more than thirty years old and a renovation was needed. While turning the dome made quite a noise. The polyurethane rollers were brittle, the electrical control was outdated and the motors for the...
Last year we received an email from Leon Advena asking for an internship at the observatory. Unfortunately we do not offer internships, but transfer immediately chief positions. Since then Leon has been our...
Seven years ago, the STScI, in collaboration with professional astronomers, carried out a long-term observation campaign at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife (three STScI members were observing on site). Several school...
We could now also observe the comet with the telescopes of the school lab. At each of the three stations we made series of images and then “stacked” them to an image of high contrast with a software. All...
After its discovery by the space telescope WISE on March 7, 2020, comet C/2020 F3 “NEOWISE” turned out to be THE comet event of 2020. At the beginning of July it became visible to the naked eye and could be...
“Pillars of Creation” is the name of a formation in the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Hydra. In April 1995 the star forming regions about 7000 light years away were photographed with the Hubble Space...
With the “small” telescopes in our school lab, remarkable images are possible. One example is the “Elephant’s Trunk”, an emission nebula in the open star cluster IC 1396 about 2.400...
Our roof is now covered with solar cells, which is designed to provide us with free energy throughout the year. This is an important step towards the sustainable operation of the observatory.
