The Josef-Hofmiller-Gymnasium in Freising has a new telescope.
This allows the students to explore space even better in the astronomy elective lesson.
Freising
- “Probably the most beautiful place in the whole Josef Hofmiller High School is the observatory.
In any case, everyone who has ever visited the dome on the roof of the school agrees on this, ”writes JoHo press officer Katharina Sturm.
This can now be done even more precisely - with the help of a new telescope that was recently installed.
Elective courses in astronomy for students from the fifth grade
“Thanks to the generosity of the Freundeskreis Josef-Hofmiller-Gymnasium, a new Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector telescope with a focal length of 2800 millimeters and a primary mirror diameter of 279 millimeters (11 inches) was able to be installed, with which the observation of planets is even better thanks to the larger focal length is possible ”, the school announced.
The members of the astronomy elective course, which pupils from the fifth grade can take part in at JoHo, are particularly often able to enjoy this.
On observation evenings at the observatory, they should become familiar with the phenomena in the starry sky and the instrumental observation techniques.
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The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest objects in this constellation.
The picture was taken on February 13th.
© Josef-Hofmiller-Gymnasium
But objects outside the solar system, so-called deep-sky objects, can also be viewed and photographed much better with the new telescope, according to Sturm.
Here it is less the magnification than the light-gathering capacity of the structure that is decisive.
Together with the already existing equipment of the observatory, the new telescope brings "an improvement of around five times compared to its predecessor".
In addition, the new, powerful GoTo mount significantly accelerates the complicated alignment of the large telescope to the desired position in the sky ”.
Constellations throughout the year, the surface of the sun and bizarre lunar landscapes
Learning to use this mount is, according to Katharina Sturm, one of the first and most important steps that participants have to take in the basic course.
In addition, what can be observed in the sky will be discussed: the constellations in the course of the year, the planets and their moons, the processes on the surface of the sun or the bizarre lunar landscapes.
The advanced participants of the advanced course then turn to the deep sky objects: glowing gas clouds, star clusters and galaxies.
More experience is needed here and the whole thing is becoming more technical, as a camera specially converted for astrophotography as a light amplifier and an astro computer that can be controlled via iPad have to be used.
Thanks to the high school's circle of friends, all of this will now be possible in an even more professional manner.
ft
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