On April 21, our member Dr. Norbert Reinecke pointed his private telescope at the galaxy Messier 61, which is about 66 million light years away from us, and took a picture in only five minutes. His telescope corresponds...
The present “corona shutdown” prevents work and observations at the STScI, so the backyard telescopes of our members have been and are increasingly being used. Many nights with particularly clear skies, in...
Work in the tower is progressing at a rapid pace. Jonathan is working on the drives and controls of our dome (above). It will soon be electronically operated. Meanwhile Leon takes care of our main telescope (right)...
The galactic gas nebula NGC 2174 is a gas cloud in the constellation Orion, the main component of which is atomic hydrogen. The open star cluster NGC 2175 is embedded in the nebula. The object, which is approximately...
Hans-Werner Eürskens, a member of the STScI, has declared his observatory in Hamm-Pelkum to be an STScI outpost. Coordinated observations and campaigns will be possible in the future. Especially observation problems due...
Peter Stinner has adjusted our three spectrographs ALPY 600 for the school lab and prepared them for use. They can now be used for spectroscopic observations day and night. Just as thechemist uses the spectroscope in...
With a little imagination you can see the head of a fish in this galactic nebula of gases and dust clouds. The Fish Head Nebula IC1795 is positioned close to the Heart Nebula IC 1805 near the well-known double star...
On 11 November, the innermost planet of the solar system passed through the solar disk and stood as a small spot for several hours in front of the sun. This rare event takes place only about a dozen times per century...
It’s good to have professionals in the team. The controller for our large dome and its slit must be renewed and brought up to modern standards. Our association members Jonathan Eichner and Gerrit Grutzeck have...
The German astronaut Alexander Gerst (“Astro Alex”) returned from his last mission as Commander of the International Space Station to the the Space Management of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) . The...
Students of the Astro Working Group at the Hollenberg-Gymnasium Waldbröl have had a look at our student laboratory together with Frank Bohlscheid, head of the group. Because of the cloudy sky, the first meeting on site...
Environment of the open star cluster IC1396 (Elephant Trunk Nebula – lower image border) with dark clouds in the constellation Kepheus. The nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much...
