Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory (German:Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl) is a historicastronomical observatory located near the summit of theKönigstuhl hill in the city ofHeidelberg inGermany. It is operated by theCenter for Astronomy (ZAH) at theUniversity of Heidelberg.
 Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory | |
| Organization | |
|---|---|
| Observatory code | 024  |
| Location | Heidelberg,Karlsruhe,Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Coordinates | 49°23′55″N8°43′15″E / 49.3986°N 8.7208°E /49.3986; 8.7208 |
| Altitude | 560 m (1,840 ft) |
| Website | www |
  Location of Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory | |
 Related media on Commons | |
The predecessor of the current observatory was originally opened in 1774 in the nearby city ofMannheim but degradation of observational conditions there resulted in a relocation to the Königstuhl in 1898.
The Observatory facility have little value for current astronomical research of ZAH; research is done with theGama Ray H.E.S.S in Namibia andESO facilitys in Chile.[1]
Andreas Quirrenbach is the observatory's director since 2005.
History
editThe instrumentation of the observatory originated from theMannheim Observatory, founded in 1774. In 1880, the observatory was provisionally moved toKarlsruhe because the astronomical/atmosphericalseeing conditions worsened. In subsequent years, three other locations were considered, with Heidelberg-Königstuhl finally being chosen.
On 20 June 1898, the "Großherzogliche Bergsternwarte" was ceremonially inaugurated byFrederick I, Grand Duke of Baden. The astronomical institute comprised two complementary departments, the astrophysical, led byMax Wolf, and theastrometrical led byKarl Wilhelm Valentiner. Valentiner was director of the Mannheim observatory and initiated the move to Karlsruhe. After Valentiner's retirement in 1909, both departments were placed under the administration of Max Wolf.
While the new observatory complex was still under constructionMax Wolf obtained a grant of $10,000 from the American philanthropistCatherine Wolfe Bruce for the acquisition of a powerful new dual 16 in (41 cm)refractor telescope, theBruce doubleastrograph. For many years this telescope was the observatory's main research instrument. He later obtained a grant to build the observatory's a 28 in (71 cm)reflector telescope, the observatory's first.[2]
The main field of activity of the observatory was the investigation ofnebulae and the search forasteroids. Wolf, his staff and his successors discovered over 800 asteroids, including the firsttrojan asteroidAchilles in 1906.
Between 1912 and 1957,Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth discovered almost 400asteroids from the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory.
The observatory ceased to be run by the German federal government in 2005 when it was joined with theInstitute of Theoretical Astrophysics andAstronomical Calculation Institute to make up theCenter of Astronomy of theUniversity of Heidelberg.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ab"ZAH, Landessternwarte Königstuhl".
- ^Tenn, Joseph S. (1994)."Max Wolf: The Twenty-Fifth Bruce Medalist".Mercury.23 (4):27–28.Bibcode:1994Mercu..23d..27T.
External links
edit- Official observatory website (German/English)
