Tirschenreuth observatory
Coordinates: 49 ° 53 ′ 20.2 ″ N , 12 ° 20 ′ 11.7 ″ E The Gerhard-Franz-Volkssternwarte Tirschenreuth is an observatory founded by Gerhard Franz in 1964 and at that time was the only public observatory in northeast Bavaria. The focus of the observatory is on conveying the joy of astronomy and nature. The public observatory in Tirschenreuth has now been renamed the Gerhard-Franz public observatory inhonor of its founder.
The owner is the Volkshochschule Tirschenreuth and thus the district of Tirschenreuth. The public observatory is operated by the Tirschenreuth Astronomical Working Group under the direction of Peter Postler.
Lectures on various topics and observations at the telescopes are offered to visitors every Friday. Basic courses and special tours are also offered. The Tirschenreuth Planet Path is a specialty . Here the dimensions of our planetary system on a scale of 1: 1 billion can be hiked through playfully.
The observatory gives you the opportunity to find out about basic topics in astronomy and the individual fields of work, as well as more specialized areas such as astrophotography , planetary observation and deep sky, as well as cosmology - dealing with the large-scale structures of the cosmos.
The observatory was rebuilt and expanded in 2006/2007 and has one of the largest publicly accessible telescopes in Bavaria . The central instrument is a 600 mm Keller- Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 6000 mm. With the help of numerous additional instruments, it is possible to penetrate into the depths of the universe . In addition, live images from the telescope can be viewed in the lecture room.