Public observatory in Hagen
The Volkssternwarte Hagen is a voluntary operated observatory in Hagen , eastern Ruhr area . It is located at a height of approx. 300 m in the city forest south of the city center in the district of Wehringhausen , directly at the Eugen Richter observation tower .
history
On November 9, 1955, the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Volkssternwarte Hagen eV" was founded. Initially, a sales pavilion next to the Eugen Richter observation tower was used as the premises . From 1956, the first observations were made there with small private devices. However, the square soon became too small, as up to 5000 visitors took part in the tours each year.
The city of Hagen provided a building site right next to the site as well as start-up capital. In the following years the observatory was built entirely in-house by the association members.
activities
The working group carries out sky observations and is active in the field of astrophotography . In addition, public tours and lectures are offered on a regular basis. The observatory has also been in charge of the Hagen planetary model since the early 1990s .
In addition to astronomy , the working group also operates a meteorological station that has had complete daily records since the observatory was founded.
Furthermore, there is a special meteor location camera of the German fireball network on the premises of the Hagen public observatory . This camera photographs the Hagen sky every night in search of brighter falling stars , the so-called fireballs .
The observation of minor planets has been intensified since 2009. The IAU Minor Planet Center station code is B86.
In addition, the observatory has a library with around 2500 volumes on various astronomical and scientific topics.
Event program
Since the foundation of the association, public relations have been of great importance and the observatory is open to visitors all year round, several times a week. From the beginning of 2008 a special program of events will be offered for each day of the visit.
Instruments
The following telescopes are currently in use:
- a Hypergraph telescope with a 20 "(50 cm) aperture and aperture 8 on a computer-aided K100 mount with telescope control FS2 (in operation since October 22, 2005) - can be converted into a deltagraph telescope with aperture 3 if necessary ,
- 10 "(25 cm) Schiefspiegler with 5 m focal length (completely self-made),
- 10 " Ritchey-Chrétien-Cassegrain telescope with 2 m focal length on a computer-aided mount of the Alt 7-AD type with telescope control FS2,
- Takahashi TSA102 refractor (d = 102 mm; f = 816 mm) - in combination with Coronado H-alpha filter for observing the sun ,
- two Dobsonian telescopes (10 "and 16" aperture),
- 110 mm self-made refractor with 2 m focal length on self-made equatorial mount,
- Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (d = 250 mm; f = 2500 mm) on computer-aided mount,
- William refractor (d = 66 mm; f = 388 mm),
- various smaller refractors as guide telescopes ,
- two prism spectrometer .
Web links
- Homepage of the public observatory in Hagen
- Homepage of the Hagen planet model
- Starry sky over the Hagen observatory (time-lapse film)
Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 44 ″ N , 7 ° 27 ′ 21 ″ E