People's Observatory

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The small public observatory in Bonn
Two buildings of the Walter Hohmann Observatory in Essen; she also does asteroid research.
The Purgathofer observatory near Vienna has the largest reflector telescope of all public observatories at 1 meter .
The Herne observatory has a radio telescope .

A public observatory is an observatory that is open to the general public. It serves the scientific and cultural so-called popular education , i.e. the transfer of knowledge to the broadest possible sections of the population. It is your task to present the findings obtained through scientific research as clearly as possible and in an easily understandable language, in order to make them accessible to an audience that has little subject-specific detailed knowledge or little prior knowledge of the subject.

With the development of the natural sciences , especially astronomy , observatories were founded at universities or by noble sponsors. However, they were reserved for scientists and not open to the public.

At the end of the 19th century, the first associations were formed that wanted to give every citizen the opportunity to get to know the stars better at a public observatory. The first public observatory in the world is the Urania in Berlin, which opened on July 1, 1889. The large Archenhold observatory in Alt-Treptow in today's Berlin has its roots in 1896. A little later, the Vienna Urania observatory was built. Today there are around 100 public observatories in the German-speaking area, plus numerous club and school observatories .

Astronomical research is only carried out at a few public observatories. There are mutliple reasons for this:

  1. Your main task is to offer guided tours through the stars , to experience the starry sky together and to impart astronomical knowledge in popular science.
  2. Complex instruments are disadvantageous for popular education. Manageable technology promotes understanding better
  3. To support professional research, scientifically trained observatory supervisors and a corresponding budget are required.
  4. In contrast to modern research observatories, public observatories are not located in remote areas, but mostly in cities, where stray light and air turbulence prevail.

Nevertheless, the amateur astronomers working at public observatories make important contributions to science in many areas. Some areas of astronomical observation are practiced almost exclusively by amateurs. Their results are passed on to specialist astronomy, which they estimate and use. Many small planets are discovered today at public observatories and some "lost" objects are found again. Further examples are the observation of the variable stars , the meteors and fireballs , the monitoring of weather changes on other planets or the measurement of star coverages by minor planets.

Public observations, lectures, support for school lessons of all grades and advice for amateur astronomers belong to the offerings of public observatories.

See also

literature

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