Franz Kroller Observatory

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Franz Kroller Observatory from Bräuhausgasse

The Franz Kroller Observatory in Traiskirchen (20 km south of Vienna) is the oldest public observatory in Lower Austria .

timeline

The observatory was built on the roof of the city ​​halls at the instigation of the school director Franz Kroller by the municipality of Traiskirchen and opened in 1967. As a public observatory , it is supervised and managed by a working group of amateur astronomers . The choice of the location in the middle of the city near the main square is based on the objective of making it as easy as possible for school classes to reach . It was given the name on the occasion of the 20th anniversary in 1987. In 1997 and 1998 the dome building was completely renovated, in 2003 the rest of the house.

The Traiskirchen observatory was the only people's observatory in Austria that took part in the international lunar observation program Lunar International Observers Network (LION) on the occasion of the Apollo flights from 1969 and was able to report a lunar transient phenomenon to the headquarters in Tucson / Arizona, which was caused by observations by an astronomer in Brazil has been confirmed. Because of this, too, it has gained supra-regional importance.

equipment

The main instruments on a computer-controlled mount are a reflecting telescope in Ritchey-Chrétien design with a diameter of 254 mm and a focal length of 2,000 mm and a refractor with a diameter of 120 mm and a focal length of 900 mm. Further telescopes and accessories complete the equipment, u. a. a transportable reflector telescope based on the Schmidt-Cassegrain principle and a Coronado solar filter. The dome diameter is 3.5 m.

guides

In the observatory, with the exception of the summer months of July and August, guided tours take place all year round, during which an extensive library and the Internet are available to visitors.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Kroller Observatory on the website of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, accessed on April 29, 2010
  2. ^ Transient Lunar Phenomena Reports from the Lunar International Observers Network During the Apollo 13 Mission, 1970 of the Smithsonian Institution, Center for short-lived phenomena
  3. ↑ Chronicle on the homepage of the Franz Kroller Observatory, accessed on April 22, 2017

Web links

Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 49 ″  N , 16 ° 17 ′ 39 ″  E