Neanderhöhe Hochdahl observatory
The Neanderhöhe Hochdahl e. V. (snh) is a public observatory founded in 1967 by a group of amateur astronomers in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Today, the association has around 400 members and, in addition to astronomy , operates a wide range of training and youth work on astronomical and other topics at several locations in Erkrath-Hochdahl . With the Stellarium Erkrath planetarium , the association operates the first planetarium in North Rhine-Westphalia that is equipped with a full-dome video projection.
People's Education Center for Space Studies (VfW)
The original aim of the statutes of the snh is the astronomical training of young people and adults. In addition to astronomical topics, the advanced training events also include physics, electrical engineering, computer and communications engineering and photography. In order to be able to receive state funding for these activities in accordance with the Further Education Act, the People's Education Center for Space Studies (VfW) was founded in 1978 under the sponsorship of the association. Because of the greatly reduced course fees for club members, the number of members doubled to over a thousand in a short time. Since the end of 2005 there has been a cooperation with the Erkrath Adult Education Center.
observatory
The observatory with several observation towers is located on the Sternwartenweg on the eastern edge of Hochdahl . In addition to the facilities for practical astronomical observation through various telescopes and the amateur radio station DK0NH , an optical and metal workshop, a photo laboratory, a sound studio, a club and a lecture room are housed here.
Instruments
| Type | Opening width | Focal length |
|---|---|---|
| Merz refractor | 16 cm | 285 cm |
| Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope , Celestron 11 | 27.5 cm | 275 cm |
| Newton telescope | 25 cm | 150 cm |
| Cassegrain telescope | 15 cm | 225 cm |
| Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope , Celestron 8 | 20 cm | 200 cm |
Training center
The training center is located on Hildener Straße near the Hochdahl S-Bahn station . In 1970, for the first time in Europe, the snh showed moon rocks from the moon landings of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 .
Stellarium Erkrath
Since 1980 the snh has operated the Stellarium Erkrath in the community center Hochdahl, a planetarium with 55 seats, which is financially supported by the city of Erkrath. After a fire in July 2007, the planetarium was renovated and reopened in spring 2008. The old star projector was a modern digital system from SkySkan for FullDome replaced, which illuminates with six full HD video projectors the entire dome. Nine PCs are used in a PC cluster for image generation, with the help of which visitors can be transferred to any location in the known universe. Travel below sea level or into the interior of human DNA can also be displayed in a dome-filling manner.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 32.6 " N , 6 ° 58 ′ 56.6" E