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Sonneberg Observatory
	Sonneberg Observatory in 2012
Observatory code	031
Location	Sonneberg, Thuringia, Germany
Established	1925
Website	www.4pisysteme.de/observatory/observatory.html
	[edit on Wikidata]

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(real title: Sonneberg Observatory)

(original: Sternwarte Sonneberg)

Edit summary: (Translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at (:de:Sternwarte Sonneberg); see its history for attribution.)

Talk template: (Translated|de|Sternwarte Sonneberg)

(Short description|none)

Sonneberg Observatory (German: Sternwarte Sonneberg) is an astronomical observatory and was formerly an institute of the Academy of Science in the German Democratic Republic. It is located on the 638 m high Erbisbühl in the Neufang district of Sonneberg.

The Sonneberg Observatory has one of the world's largest collections of photographic plates in its astronomy museum.^[1]

The observatory's astronomy museum holds popular science events and is open to interested visitors, especially amateur astronomers and school students, in order to introduce them to the history and new findings in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics.

History[edit]

The Sonneberg Observatory was founded on the initiative of Cuno Hoffmeister by the town of Sonneberg with the support of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. On 28 December 1925, the observing station with the first domed tower was ceremoniously inaugurated. It was expanded significantly through additions by 1928 and at the time was the highest observatory in Germany.

From 1930, the observatory was leased to the Prussian state and thus became de facto a branch of the Berlin-Babelsberg University Observatory. For decades starting 1938, Paul Ahnert worked at the observatory. During the Second World War, from 1940 onwards, the observatory was also used as an air and weather observating station and was subordinate to the Reich Weather Service and hence the Luftwaffe. After the war, Cuno Hoffmeister managed to continue the observatory's research programmes even under Soviet occupation. However, in 1945, as part of reparations, the occupying power ordered the dismantling of the most powerful telescope – a 40 cm astrograph – for a Soviet observatory. In April 1946, the Sonneberg Observatory became a research institute of the GDR Academy of Sciences in Berlin.

During the 1950s the observatory was expanded extensively. Since then, it consists of several one- to two-story buildings, separated by green spaces. There are spacious laboratory and work areas and attached domed buildings for the observing equipment. By the early 1960s, many new instruments had been purchased and the number of scientific staff had increased considerably. In 1960 and 1961 two astrographs, each with a diameter of 40 cm, came into operation. Sonneberg was also discussed for the major investment for a 2 m Schmidt telescope (Germany's largest telescope ever), but in 1960 this was finally assigned to Tautenburg near Jena for a new observatory there – today's Thuringian State Observatory.

After the Berlin Wall was built on 13 August 1961, the Sonneberg observatory found itself located in the restricted border area and was therefore almost inaccessible to visitors and scientists unless they lived within the Sonneberg restricted zone. It was therefore no longer competitive in international research operations. As part of a reform of the Academy of Sciences in 1967, the scientific management was removed and the institution was placed under the control of the Institute of Astrophysics. Further plans for 1969 even called for the dismantling of all instruments, a relocation of the scientific staff and complete closure. However, the new scientific director Wolfgang Wenzel prevented this through his intervention. A ban on observing with large instruments was initially ignored and reversed in the mid-1970s. The scientific work and long-term research programmes continued until the end of the GDR in 1989, when Sonneberg observatory had 36 employees.

However, the most critical time began for the observatory with German reunification in 1990. Initially it became the property of the state of Thuringia. After evaluating the research facilities across Thuringia, the Tautenburg observatory with the 2 m Alfred Jensch Telescope became the one and only state observatory with support from public research funds. Sonneberg observatory was scheduled to close in 1991. Thanks to the efforts of the then head of the observatory, Woldemar Götz, the closure of the institute was postponed until the end of 1994; the observatory would continue to operate with ten employees as a branch of the Thuringian State Observatory Tautenburg. In 1992, the new director of the observatory, Hans-Jürgen Bräuer, together with Klaus Hoffmeister, a nephew of Cuno Hoffmeister, founded the support association “Friends of the Sonneberg Observatory e.V.”. The observatory was reopened on 9 November 1995. Between 1995 and 2003 it was a municipal institution that received financial support from the city and district of Sonneberg as well as from the states of Bavaria and Thuringia. Under the leadership of Constanze la Dous, four employees launched a five-year project to continue the internationally recognised Sonneberg sky observation programmes and to digitise the second largest astronomical plate collection in the world.

In 1998, an astronomy museum was set up in the observatory's oldest building. This welcomes around 5000 visitors annually. The establishment of the museum was in part made possible through the use of ABM measures. When the ABM project ended in December 2000, funding was received once more from the district and the town in order to be able to continue working until 2002. The project obtained a final extension until the end of 2003.

Starting 1 January 2004, the observatory was operated by the Zweckverband Sternwarte Sonneberg and the company 4pi Systeme – Gesellschaft für Astronomie und Informationstechnologie mbH. The company had been founded in 2000 by former employees of the Sonneberg Observatory, in January 2004 had twelve employees and develops software to operate astronomical telescopes. 4pi Systeme, with the support of the “Friends of the Sonneberg Observatory” also operated the scientific facilities of the observatory. The astronomy museum was run by the support association, so that the astronomy museum, lecture hall and the observatory's observation instruments could be used for exhibitions, guided tours and lectures. Since the beginning of 2016, the museum and its public relations work are managed by the “Astronomiemuseum e.V.”.

Scientific work[edit]

The main areas of responsibility of the observatory were:

The photometric, photoelectric investigation and research of variable stars, comets, meteors, meteor streams and other extraterrestrial objects.
The long-term research programs “Sonneberger Field Plan” (Field patrol) and “Sonneberg Sky Monitoring” (Sky patrol).
The development and manufacture of scientific devices and instruments for celestial observation and evaluation of the observation results.

Today, the Sonneberg observatory has (still) the second largest astroplate archive in the world, which is a valuable source of information for variable variable research. It includes over 270,000 photographic plates that show the changes in the northern starry sky over more than 70 years. The archive also contains around 5,000 photographic plates of the southern sky that Cuno Hoffmeister took on several expeditions in Bolivia and South Africa between 1926 and 1959. More than a quarter of all known variable stars in the Milky Way have been discovered using the Sonneberg astroplates. Most of the recordings were taken as part of the “Sonneberg Field Patrol” and the “Sonneberg Sky Patrol”. The long-term program of the “Sonneberg Field Plan” was started in 1924 by Cuno Hoffmeister and ran until 1995. The “Sonneberg Sky Monitoring” is based on Paul Guthnick’s idea of monitoring the entire northern starry sky using astrophotography. This program has been running since 1926 until today. Since unexposed photographic plates were no longer available from 1997 onwards, sky monitoring had to be switched to film material. The historical photographic plates are available for scientific evaluations and have also been digitized since 1992. This work continues to this day and is being carried out by employees of 4pi Systeme. There was also a project to significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio of some of the already digitized photographic plates using the pixon method. This project with the Technical University of Ilmenau ran until 2005.

Wissenschaftliche Arbeit[edit]

Die Hauptaufgabengebiete der Sternwarte waren:

Die fotometrische, lichtelektrische Untersuchung und Erforschung veränderlicher Sterne, Kometen, Meteore, Meteorströme und sonstiger extraterrestrischer Objekte.
Die Langzeitforschungsprogramme „Sonneberger Felderplan“ (Field patrol) und „Sonneberger Himmelsüberwachung“ (Sky patrol).
Die Entwicklung und Herstellung wissenschaftlicher Geräte und Instrumente zur Himmelsbeobachtung und Auswertung der Beobachtungsergebnisse.

Die Sternwarte Sonneberg verfügt heute (noch) über das zweitgrößte Astroplatten-Archiv der Erde, das eine wertvolle Informationsquelle für die Veränderlichen-Forschung ist. Es umfasst über 270.000 Fotoplatten, die die Veränderungen am nördlichen Sternenhimmel über mehr als 70 Jahre abbilden. Außerdem sind im Archiv ca. 5000 Fotoplatten des südlichen Himmels, die Cuno Hoffmeister auf mehreren Expeditionen in Bolivien und Südafrika zwischen 1926 und 1959 aufgenommen hat. Mehr als ein Viertel aller bekannten veränderlichen Sterne der Milchstraße wurden bisher mit Hilfe der Sonneberger Astroplatten entdeckt. Die meisten Aufnahmen sind im Rahmen des „Sonneberger Felderplans“ (Field patrol) und der „Sonneberger Himmelsüberwachung“ (Sky patrol) entstanden. Das Langzeitprogramm des „Sonneberger Felderplans“ wurde 1924 von Cuno Hoffmeister begonnen und lief bis 1995. Die „Sonneberger Himmelsüberwachung“ beruht auf der Idee Paul Guthnicks den gesamten nördlichen Sternenhimmel mittels der Astrofotografie zu überwachen. Dieses Programm läuft seit 1926 bis heute. Da ab 1997 keine unbelichteten Fotoplatten mehr erhältlich waren, musste die Himmelsüberwachung auf Filmmaterial umgestellt werden. Die historischen Fotoplatten stehen für wissenschaftliche Auswertungen zur Verfügung und werden seit 1992 auch digitalisiert. Diese Arbeiten dauern bis heute an und werden von Mitarbeitern der Firma 4pi Systeme realisiert. Es gab auch ein Projekt, um das Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis bei einem Teil der bereits digitalisierten Fotoplatten durch die Pixonenmethode deutlich zu verbessern. Dieses Projekt mit der Technischen Universität Ilmenau lief bis zum Jahre 2005.

Instruments[edit]

In 1926, the observatory's main instrument was initially a 135 mm refractor with various sky cameras. In 1938, an astrograph with a 400 mm objective diameter and 1600 mm objective focal length was used as the new main instrument, but it was dismantled in 1945. The observatory now houses two Cassegrain reflecting telescopes with a diameter of 60 cm, a Schmidt telescope with a diameter of 50 cm and two astrographs with a diameter of 40 cm each. In addition and as a long-term alternative to the sky monitoring that has been carried out with astrographs since 1926, a CCD camera has been used in conjunction with a wide-angle lens since 2002. The camera is a MultiMega CCD camera (manufacturer: OES - Optical and Electronic Systems) with a 7k × 4k chip (chip area: 84 × 48 mm, made by Philips) and a water-cooled Peltier element.

The refractor from 1926 and the 60 cm Cassegrain reflecting telescope are now available to visitors to observe the sky during public observation evenings. Send feedback Side panels

Instrumente[edit]

Hauptinstrument der Sternwarte war 1926 zunächst ein 135-mm-Refraktor mit verschiedenen Himmelkameras. 1938 kam ein Astrograph mit 400 mm Objektivdurchmesser und 1600 mm Objektivbrennweite als neues Hauptinstrument zum Einsatz, das 1945 aber demontiert wurde. In der Sternwarte stehen heute zwei Cassegrain-Spiegelteleskope mit 60 cm Durchmesser, ein Schmidt-Teleskop mit 50 cm Durchmesser und zwei Astrographen mit je 40 cm Durchmesser. In Ergänzung und als langfristige Alternative zu der seit 1926 mit Astrografen betriebenen Himmelsüberwachung wird seit 2002 eine CCD-Kamera in Verbindung mit einem Weitwinkelobjektiv eingesetzt. Als Kamera dient eine MultiMega-CCD-Kamera (Hersteller: OES – Optische und elektronische Systeme) mit einem 7k × 4k-Chip (Chipfläche: 84 × 48 mm, Fabr. Philips) und wassergekühltem Peltier-Element.

Der Refraktor von 1926 sowie das 60-cm-Cassegrain-Spiegelteleskop stehen heute Besuchern im Rahmen öffentlicher Beobachtungsabende zur Himmelsbeobachtung zur Verfügung.

References[edit]

^ "Museum for Astronomy". Astronomiemuseum der Sternwarte Sonneberg (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-06.

External links[edit]

(Commons category|Sternwarte Sonneberg)

(DEFAULTSORT:none) (Kategorie: Historische Sternwarte|Sonneberg Sternwarte in Deutschland|Sonneberg Wissenschaft in Thüringen Institut der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR Museum im Landkreis Sonneberg Bauwerk in Sonneberg Organisation (Sonneberg) Astronomiemuseum ) (Category: Astronomical observatories in Germany Buildings and structures in Sonneberg (district) Science and technology in East Germany )

(observatory-stub) (Thuringia-struct-stub)

[1] "Museum for Astronomy". Astronomiemuseum der Sternwarte Sonneberg (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-06.

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