Guest observatory

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A guest observatory is an astronomical observation station with larger telescopes that can be rented by amateur astronomers by the night or that is available to members of the sponsoring association upon registration.

The establishment of such observatories began in the 1990s in climatically favorable southern areas such as in the Swiss mountains, on the Canary Islands or especially in Namibia , where the possibility of observing the southern sky could be combined with a regional holiday in the form of so-called astro camps or astro farms . The International Amateur Observatory , based in Heidelberg , chose a particularly sophisticated form, which has built a branch to the summit observatory on Gamsberg, South West Africa, at over 2000 m above sea level.

Admittedly, some astronomers enthusiasts had the opportunity to have exclusive star evenings in front of a large telescope or astrograph if they knew the owner of a private observatory. Some of these observatories have been taken over by astro clubs in the last few decades , for example in Eisenstadt and in the Bergstrasse district .

In order to enable less well-heeled astronomical friends to enjoy good observation nights away from the usual guided tours of the public observatories , more modestly equipped guest observatories have also emerged in Europe in recent years. Pioneers in the German-speaking area were u. a. the Emberger Alm in Upper Carinthia (southern Austria) and partly the observatory on the Jungfraujoch in the Bernese Alps (Switzerland). For several years now, the Verein Astronomie im Chiemgau e. V. such an observation station, as well as the Gahberg observatory in the lake area of Upper Austria . In the German-speaking area, at least three more are being developed in western Switzerland, in the Taunus region and near the eastern border of Brandenburg . Some hotels in alpine regions have also set up roof observatories for this purpose , some also organize telescope meetings for star lovers.

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