Astronomical station "Samuel Heinrich Schwabe"
The astronomical station "Samuel Heinrich Schwabe" is located on the premises of the grammar school "Walter Gropius" - European school in Dessau-Roßlau and consists of a planetarium and an observation dome.
history
After the start of the first artificial earth satellite Sputnik in 1957 and the beginning of manned space travel, interest in astronomical issues rose by leaps and bounds among broad sections of the population. In the then GDR, astronomy was introduced as a subject as early as 1959 .
In autumn 1967 the astronomical station was inaugurated as the second in the former Halle district on the site of today's "Walter Gropius" high school. First of all, the planetarium building was built with the typical dome structure for the ZKP 1 projection device ( Zeiss small planetarium 1). A few weeks later the small observation station was opened.
The station was named after the Dessau astronomer, pharmacist and botanist Samuel Heinrich Schwabe (1789–1875). From an astronomical point of view, Schwabe enjoys international recognition primarily through the discovery of the 11-year sunspot periodicity , but other discoveries and hypotheses also go back to his work.
Since the opening, the preservation, processing and dissemination of the legacy of Samuel Heinrich Schwabe has been an important element of the work in the astronomical station and 8,000 to 10,000 visitors annually were welcomed to lectures and observation evenings.
Regular guests of the facility were pupils in the context of astronomy lessons, who were brought closer to the mostly elusive movement processes in the solar system or the physical properties of the celestial bodies in various thematic lectures. The schools also used the observation evenings on offer. Here, after instruction, the students were able to do practical work largely independently and write down and evaluate their observation results in the log books created by the station. There were also extracurricular offers, e.g. B. in the form of working groups and "astronomy camps" or cross-school "astronomy Olympiads".
Visitors to the facility, which is unique in this region, were also kindergartens, special schools, schoolchildren on class trips, students, foreign guests from the city of Dessau and departments from various companies. The station offered subject-specific and popular science lectures.
The astronomical station today
The astronomical station, which was completely renovated in 2008/09 with municipal funds, consists of a lecture dome with a diameter of 8 m, in which the processes in the starry sky can be illustrated using a Zeiss small planetarium projector of the type ZKP 2P and other media.
The station also has a course room for astronomy lessons in grades 9 to 12 as well as for study groups or thematic events.
The observation tower of the station has a dome with a diameter of 4.20 m, in which a large Coudé refractor 150/2300 is used on a German watchman mount . The telescope is very suitable for astronomical observations in the planetary system , but also provides good results for deep-sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, etc.).
In addition to the technical lessons at the grammar school, there are astronomy-related offers for regional schools as part of the lessons and for other educational institutions. The popular scientific and subject-specific lecture and observation offers also find an interested public, which is supported by the Schwabe-Verein Dessau e. V. is served.
The "Long Night of the Stars" has been held annually since 2004. The event of astronomical knowledge transfer and entertainment takes place in the astronomical station, in the school building and on the outside area of the high school and has up to 2000 visitors each.
See also
Web links
- Website of the Schwabe-Verein Dessau e. V.
- Website of the grammar school "Walter Gropius" - European school
Coordinates: 51 ° 48 '6.29 " N , 12 ° 14' 54.49" O