Popular Astronomy Society

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The Society for Folk Astronomy eV (GvA) is one of the largest amateur astronomical associations in Germany and the only non-profit association of amateur astronomers in Hamburg . She is a member of the Association of Star Friends (VdS).

aims

The task of the GvA is to promote astronomy in public, to look after its members and to operate observatories that are suitable for amateur astronomers. It publishes the Sternkieker magazine for members four times a year with a total annual volume of around 200 pages. Once a month she organizes a public lecture on amateur astronomical topics.

organization

The work in the GvA is divided into several areas, each of which is supervised by a responsible person. At the moment there are regular events in the areas of beginners, sun, video astronomy, astrophotography, mirror grinding and youth work. In addition to the board members, there are fixed responsibilities for managing the club's observatories and for editing the Sternkieker . The GvA does not currently operate an observatory in the Hamburg area, the so-called "external observatory" is located in Nordheide ( Harburg district ).

The GvA has local groups in Kiel and Cuxhaven , both of which operate their own observatories. The local groups are not legally their own associations and are not financially independent, but are largely free in their work.

The association had around 450 members in the early 2010s.

history

Hamburg

The predecessor of the GvA was the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Hamburger Sternfreunde" (AHS), active since 1960, which in 1964 developed into an association under the name "Verein Hamburger Sternfreunde eV" (VHS). Due to the possibility of confusion with the Volkshochschule Hamburg , which uses the same abbreviation, the name was changed in 1970 to "Society for Folk Astronomy eV Hamburg".

In the initial phase, the association was dependent on the use of rooms in schools, but in 1970 was able to move into rooms in the water tower in Hamburg's city park. These included a lecture room, an observatory and a workshop. This resulted in a long-term and close collaboration with the Hamburg Planetarium , which has been housed in the same building since 1930, under its then director Erich Übelacker , who was also chairman of the GvA for six years. During the early 1970s, efforts were made to operate an official public observatory on the water tower . However, this use was finally prohibited in 1973 by the Hamburg cultural authority. In the 1980s and 1990s in particular, a large number of public events were held together with the planetarium. At that time, a loan from the Hamburg observatory's equipment pool , a 15 cm refractor on a heavy Zeiss mount, which was large for amateur astronomical standards at the time , served as the club's main instrument.

After the KPM magazine was discontinued in 1997, the club's own circular comet took its place for a short time. From 1998 the number of articles on comets and minor planets in the Sternkieker was expanded significantly. Hartwig Lüthen, one of the former publishers of KPM , was responsible for this section of the club magazine until the mid-2000s .

As part of the renovation of the planetarium in 2002, the GvA relocated its club rooms and the observatory to Bergedorf in a pavilion on the roof of the Bergedorf City Center . In 2006 this location had to be given up again due to the renovation of the shopping center. No suitable new rooms could be found for the observatory, so parts of the equipment were relocated to the external observatory. Lecture rooms are currently being used in Neu-Allermöhe and Klein Flottbek .

Due to this historical development, the city of Hamburg has no public observatory to this day and, since 2006, no longer has an observatory for amateur astronomers. Concrete activities to establish a Hamburg observatory are now being carried out within the framework of the Hamburg observatory's support association .

Outdoor observatory

The GvA has been operating the so-called "external observatory " outside of Hamburg since 1980 , as the observation conditions there are significantly better. This was initially near Fischbek , was moved to Bardenhagen in the Nordheide in 1994 due to increasing light pollution and moved to Handeloh in 2006 . For many years, the main instruments of the external observatory were two Newtonian telescopes with mirror diameters of 36 cm and 31 cm, respectively. From 2000 to 2005, a telescope with a 63 cm mirror diameter was operated at the Bardenhagen site instead of the main devices previously used, but this turned out to be far less powerful than smaller and more modern devices. Today, the main device used is a three-way combination of 14-inch ACF telescope , 32-cm astrograph and 10-cm refractor, with which both visual observations and digital astrophotographs are possible.

Cuxhaven and Kiel

The local group Cuxhaven and its observatory were founded in the early 1970s by the then chairman Max Koch. The observatory was able to be set up on the premises of the Cuxhaven Vocational School and soon established itself in the city with its range of services. Extensive repairs were carried out in 1996 with the financial support of the Cuxhaven district.

The local branch in Kiel was also established in the 1970s, has maintained close contacts with the Kiel University of Applied Sciences since then and participated in the operation of the observatory there . Since 1979, the Kiel group has had its own observatory on the premises of the Kronshagen secondary school .

Well-known members and alumni

literature

  • Jochen Schramm (Ed.): Stars over Hamburg . 2nd revised and expanded edition. Kultur & Geschichtkontor, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811271-8-8 , p. 146 ff .
  • Manfred Holl: The GvA and the planetarium: the end of an era . In: Sternkieker . No. 190 , 2002, p. 121 ff . ; Summary of the club's history up to 2002

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Manfred Holl: Interview with Prof. Erich Übelacker . In: Sternkieker . No. 182 , 2000, pp. 112 f .
  2. ^ Anke Küpper: Hamburg Museum Guide . 2nd Edition. L&H Verlag, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-928119-12-5 , p. 159 .
  3. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, August 3, 2002. Accessed December 10, 2011.
  4. ^ Thomas W. Kraupe, Ehrenfried Kluckert: "Because what is inside, that is outside" The history of the modern planetarium . 1st edition. Planetarium Hamburg, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-933284-15-5 , p. 140 f .
  5. ↑ Aims and development concept of the Hamburg Observatory Friends' Association. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ Dirk Tscherniak: Report on the lunar eclipse 1990 . In: Sternkieker . No. 141 , 1990, pp. 54 .
  7. ↑ a b Manfred Holl: Minutes of the general meeting of April 22, 2006 . In: Sternkieker . No. 206 , 2006, pp. 115 f .
  8. ↑ Marisa Knierim: Stroke of genius of a Winterhude astronomer. (PDF; 299 kB) In: Alster-Magazin. March 2006, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 (to Rahlf Hansen with reference to membership).;
  9. ↑ Wolfgang Lille's astronomical career on his homepage. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  10. ↑ Oliver Rensch: Annual review of the public relations section . In: Sternkieker . No. 141 , 1990, pp. 55 .
  11. ↑ Erik Wischnewski's curriculum vitae . Retrieved November 4, 2011.

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