Herne observatory
The Herne observatory is a public observatory set up and operated by the “Astronomical Working Group Wanne-Eickel / Herne eV” . It is located in the Dorneburg Park of the city of Herne in the northern Ruhr area and, in addition to the usual instruments, also has a radio telescope and a connected planetarium.
history
An astronomy course has been offered at the Herne Adult Education Center since autumn 1974, imparting the basics of astronomy to laypeople and beginners. However, sky observations could only be carried out on the course evenings. The telescope used was a 10 cm Newtonian telescope , which each time had to be set up on the roof of the community college. Later, an 11.5 cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope was permanently installed in a house.
In 1981, those who attended the course founded the “Wanne-Eickel / Herne Astronomical Working Group”, and VHS lecturer Dieter Rösener became its chairman. A converted chicken coop of the lecturer served as a meeting room. The telescope had to be set up in the garden each time for observation, the view was severely restricted by trees. Therefore, plans soon arose to establish a permanent observation station. Finally, a container could be used as a lecture room in the building yard of the City of Herne's Green Space Office . In 1984 the working group was converted into a registered non-profit association and the courses of the VHS were moved to the container. In the same year the association received a 12.5 cm refractor . In 1986 the club was able to acquire a used GRP dome with a diameter of four meters. A half-timbered substructure was created in-house. This was the forerunner of today's observatory.
After lengthy negotiations with the city of Herne, the district president Arnsberg and the main sponsor, the Hüls company, construction of the public observatory began in 1989 . Almost all of the work was carried out by association members. A lecture room for 30 people, a planetarium with 22 seats, a library and a photo laboratory were created. The observation dome was installed on the roof. In 1991 the observatory was inaugurated.
In the years that followed, a planetary path was laid out, a floor sundial was erected and the planetarium was rebuilt. A radio telescope has been set up in the courtyard .
The Herne observatory offers regular sky observations, astronomical lectures and presentations in the planetarium.
Instruments
A 5-inch refractor and a 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope are used in the dome for observation. A CCD camera is used for automatic tracking . There are pillars in the courtyard for setting up additional telescopes.
See also
Web links
Observatory website Coordinates: 51 ° 31 ′ 35.1 ″ N , 7 ° 10 ′ 32.2 ″ E