Horizon astronomy
As Horizontastronomie methods are public Stern guides referred to the construction works for the visualization of the mathematical horizon , the astronomical meridian and daily course of the sun support. Mostly the seasonally changing directions of sunrise and sunset are shown as well as the "celestial axis" (parallel to the earth axis ), which roughly points to the North Star.
Such structures can u. a. Horizon marks, obelisks, inclined columns, horizontal sundials or large metal arches in the manner of ancient armillary spheres . The first such facilities in Europe were the “open-air planetarium” Sterngarten on the Georgenberg in the south of Vienna , built in 1997, and the “Horizontobservatorium” in 2008 on the Hoheward dump , an abandoned coal dump near Recklinghausen in the Ruhr area. However, the latter is currently blocked due to a crack in a weld seam.
The model for some systems is the Stone Age observatory near Stonehenge in southern England, which, in addition to religious purposes, also served to determine the seasons and sky cycles through the rising points of the sun, moon and bright stars.
See also
Sources, web links
- Hermann Mucke : Open Air Planetarium Vienna - Sterngarten Georgenberg . Austrian Astronomical Association, Vienna 2002
- The horizon observatory on Hoheward near Recklinghausen