LANDESSTERNENWARTE KNIGSTUHL (LSW)

Research and Education

The LSW offers work experience for students as well as the oppertunity of working on a masters or phd thesis. Subject areas include: Young stellar objects, galaxy halos, metal-poor stars and more. For a complete list of offered subjects visit the website. The degree is awarded through the University of Heidelberg. There are further events and lectures for different age groups throught the year. The LSW works with the Haus der Astronomy in matters of education outreach.

Since 2005 the LSW is part of the center for astronomy at the University of Heidelberg.

A D R E S S

Telescopes of the Landesternenwarte Knigstuhl

*All pictures are curtesy of the LSW

Landessternwarte Knigsstuhl / Zentrum fr Astronomie Knigstuhl 12 69117 Heidelberg Tel. +49 6221 54-1700 www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de

STATEOBSERVATORY KNIGSSTUHL

Historic overview
Evidence for astronomical research in the region around Heidelberg and the Knigstuhl date back as far as the 17th century. However the Landessternenwarte Knigsstuhl (LSW) was not opened till june of 1898 by the grand duke of Baden. Head of the astrophyiscal department was Max Wolf at the time(1902).

Discoveries
Since opening in 1898 the LSW has dicovered over 800 minor planetary bodies and from the photographic plates of the LSW it was possible to gain early evidence for the formation of galaxy clusters.

70cm telescope: Build in the LSW workshop it is used for monitoring variable objects . Field of view 8x5.3.

People of importance
Max Wolf was not only the director of the LSW and chair of astronomy but also a pioneer of astrophotography. During his time at the LSW he discovered a vast number of asteroids (over two hundret) the most famous one being the first trojian asteroid Achillies in 1906. Aditionally Wolf collaborated to the discovery of the true nature of dark nebulae.

Facilities and Instrumentation

Today the LSW is compromised not only of an extensive library but also out of several workshops and six on site domes containing telescopes. 8-inch refractor: It is the oldes telescope of the LSW and was originally used in the observation of binary stars. It consists of a wooden tube and is now only used for tours of the facility. Zeiss Telescope: Mirror diameter:75cm; focal lenght 600cm. Used for imaging for glaxies and star clusters. In 2005 it was transfered to Namibia and is now part of the H.E.S.S.-project. Bruce Doubleastrograph: It has a large field of view (6 x 8) that is used to study comets, asteroids and Nebulae. It is in use since 1900.

Current affairs
At the moment the LSW is involved in several larger projects such as the H.E.S.S telescope in Namibia and the building of the Lucifer-spectrograph. The LSW hosts a number of reaseach groups in the areas of extragalactic astrophysics, stellar astrophysics and Instrumentiereing. Recently professor R.S. Klessen recieved a large grant for his work on population III stars.

Two privately funded telescopes, including the Waltz reflector were added in 1900 making the LSW one of the worlds cutting edge reaserch facilities in the field of astronomy. Initially their reaserch was focused on the discovery of minor planets as well as the investigation of nebulae

C O O R D I N A T E S

50cm Refractor: It was build in the LSWs own workshop and is used for the study of stars and photometry. Schmidt Telescope: Diameter 40cm. It was constructed in the LSWs own workshop. It is used to identify stellar spectras.

0h 34m 53s East 49 23' 55'' North

Local time: UTC+1h