Astronomy Day 2023

On Saturday, 28 October 2023, a varied programme awaits you again for Astronomy Day 2023. The Radebeul Observatory offers exciting short lectures, observations through the telescopes, presentations and planetarium events.

Programme:

From 15.00 hrs
Observing the sun through the telescope
Astronomical observations are not just a matter of the night. Observing the sun can also be very fascinating. Marvel at our star through the telescope. (provided the weather is clear).

3.30 pm
The most beautiful images from the Hubble Space Telescope - image presentation
Hubble has been spoiling us with fantastic images from the depths of space for over 30 years. Among other things, the space telescope has brought distant galaxies and exploding supernovas into our living rooms and is still discovering new things all the time

16.15 hrs
Inauguration of the new large remote telescope of the Astroclub Radebeul e.V.
A new, powerful reflector telescope has recently been made available to amateur astronomers and visitors at the observatory. It was specially designed for high-resolution astrophotography of faint objects. At the inauguration, we will present the telescope and explain its special qualities.

16.30 hrs
Audio Universe - An auditory tour through the solar system - Planetarium show
Experience the solar system like never before. You will be travelling in a spaceship that can convert the objects in space into sound.
The spaceship will take you to the Chilean Atacama Desert to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory. Then the journey into space to the moon, the sun and the planets of the solar system begins.

16.45 hrs
How a mofi is formed
Short lecture by the Astroclub Radebeul e.V.
On the evening of 28 October, you will be able to see a full-length partial lunar eclipse throughout the evening. We will explain how a lunar eclipse occurs and what the course of the lunar eclipse on 28 October 2023 will be like.

17.15 and 19.15
Stars of the night
The current starry sky in the planetarium
We show you the most beautiful constellations and planets of the evening and night in the planetarium.

18.00 hrs
Life outside the Earth? How space probes explore our solar system
Lecture by Prof Dr Thomas Rattei
University of Vienna

Our solar system is home to planets and moons with a wide variety of properties. For several decades, space probes have been exploring the properties of these celestial bodies from orbit or after landing. In addition to a variety of astronomical questions, biological problems also arise: How do we recognise extraterrestrial life? How do we ensure that our space probes do not introduce terrestrial life to alien celestial bodies? Using examples from current research, this lecture introduces the astrobiology of our solar system and explains the procedure for developing modern interplanetary space probes.

18.30 hrs
Einstein's Gravity Playlist
Planetarium show
Einstein's Gravity Playlist is an original planetarium show that explores the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916, and a century later, scientists detected these waves here on Earth using incredibly precise laser technology. In honour of this long-awaited discovery, the scientists who developed the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017. In this show, viewers join Lucia, a physics PhD student, as she explores how gravitational waves are created, how they travel through the universe and how scientists like her work to hear them.

From 6.30 pm
Sky observation at the telescopes
Experience the fascination of the real starry sky. We will use our large telescopes to show you a wide variety of celestial objects, from the moon and planets to star clusters and distant galaxies.
Observation highlights:
Partial lunar eclipse
With the naked eye, the moon will only appear a little "nibbled", through the telescope of our observatory you will clearly see that the moon is missing a good piece at the lower edge.

Jupiter and Saturn:
Saturn in the constellation Aquarius is ending its opposition period and is the planet of the first half of the night.
Jupiter will make its opposition this year at the beginning of November, so it will be visible for most of the night in October - in the evening in the east, after midnight in the south and in the morning in the west.

20.00
Astrometry with the Gaia space telescope: New face of old science
Prof Dr Sergei Klioner
Lohrmann Observatory, TU Dresden

Astrometry is the oldest part of astronomy and is concerned with measuring the positions of objects in the sky. The success of the Gaia astrometric space telescope has completely redefined astrometry. The Lohrmann Observatory at TU Dresden has been involved in this fascinating astronomical project for over 20 years. The ESA Gaia mission was launched in December 2013 and measures the positions of around 2 billion celestial bodies with such precision that the tiniest changes in their positions reveal information about the distance of these celestial objects and their spatial movement. Both the accuracy of Gaia's measurements and the number of objects measured are revolutionising astronomy as a whole. Applications of the Gaia results range from the more precise determination of asteroid orbits in the solar system, to new insights into the physics of stars and the dynamics of our galaxy, to the physics of quasars - distant galaxies that define the reference system for Gaia. The lecture will discuss the details of the Gaia project as well as examples of the scientific results.Prof. Dr Sergei Klioner is head of the Lohrmann Observatory at the TU Dresden. His fields of research are astrometry, celestial mechanics and the astronomical applications of the theory of relativity. He has been involved in the ESA Gaia project since 2000 and has been a member of the Gaia Scientific Board since 2007.

No advance booking required. Ongoing admission

(Note: Please make a reservation for the Family Planetarium. The admission ticket for the family planetarium on 28 October 2023 is also valid for the entire Astronomy Day)

Admission price: Adults € 7.00 Reduced: € 4.00 Family: € 16.00

Children up to the age of 18, pupils, trainees, students and severely disabled persons are entitled to a discount.