• As part of the astro-lab to be held from February 15 - 26 2027, observations will be carried out with the 70cm telescope of the Landessternwarte Heidelberg. Since weather is normally pretty poor in February , the observations will be performed during the lecture period until christmas. Observing sessions are offered Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday on Oct 26-28, Nov 2-4, 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25 as well as Nov 30 - Dec 2 and Dec 7-9 and 14-16. Since we suffered from bad weather in previous Winter seasons (mostly only a few nights of the 30 nights offered were useful) we will carry out the observations with two groups, with a maximum of 4 students each, back to back. The first group at a given day is at the telescope from 16.30h - 19:15h, the second group from 19:30h - 22.15h.
• Registration is now open for the observations starting on October 26. On October 22 the first assignment of observing nights can be found on that page. The observing schedule will be updated every Thursday. You can also register at a later stage. Once the first round of scheduled observations is over, new dates for the unsuccessfull students/groups will be defined as well as observing dates for the participants who have registered later on. The assignment of the dates will always been made based on the entries in the GOOGLE spreadsheet.
• Once registered for the astrolab and in case you would like to take part on the observations, you should indicate your availability on this GOOGLE spreadsheet
• Logistics and transportation: Meeting point for the observations is at the gate of the Landessternwarte, where the tutor (Matheus Castro) will pick you up. If you come by car, pls. leave it just to the right hand side in front of the gate. For the ones who require public transport to come up, Bus 39 leaving Bismarckplatz every full hour (16/19h) is recommended. Arrival at the Landessternwarte is about 25minutes later. You have to walk about 400m from the bus stop to the gate of the Landessternwarte following the sign. Alternatively you can take the Bus 30 leaving the bus stop Peterskirche at 16.32/19.32, arrival at the Landessternwarte about 12min later. Note, however, that you need to find your way to the telescope in that case. Going down: Bus 39 leaving at 19.32h being at the Bismarckplatz around 20h. Bus 30 is not a good option as it leaves at 19:48h from the MPIA and goes to the S-Bf. Altstadt and not to the Peterskirche! There is no bus running at times when the 2nd group is done with their observations. Instead "FIPS" ( Flexible, personalised passenger shuttle service ) will be used, which we will order for 22.15h and which runs from the bus-stop at Landessternwarte. It needs to be ordered in the afternoon. The assistant at the 70cm telescope will take care of this. FIPS is free of charge for the ones with a "Deutschlandticket" or "JugendticketBW", which applies to all of you.
• On a day when observations are scheduled, we will decide based on the current weather (forecast) on whether observations will take place or not. You will be informed by our decision. If we will go for observations, we will ask you to confirm your participation via E-mail as soon as possible. This is absolutely necessary for planning purposes and also for ordering FIPS for the 2nd group!!! If we go for observations, you should also make sure to have downloaded the script for the observations and gone through parts 1.1 and 1.2. The script can be downloaded here.
• Pls. have warm clothes with you. It can be very cold at the Königstuhl during the night.
• Observations with the 70cm telescope are voluntarily, they are not a requirement to pass the astrolab.

Further information:

The next astrolab during the summer term 2027 will be held from September 27 - October 8 2027. If you prefer to take part during this period, send me an E-mail. You will be put on a pre-registration list and be informed and allowed to register for that event before it is made public. Your participation will be guaranteed!