Observing Sites

Eifel National Park

I´m living in Cologne, a city with one million citizens in the most populated state of Germany, North Rhine Westfalia. To do stargazing I need to go to remote areas. The closest National-Park is the Eifel region, where sky conditions are pretty good (Bortle 3). Close to Gerolstein a private observatory was build in the 1990ies.  It consist of a small 2 meter Baader dome as well, as a 5 meter custom made dome which was build for the Ganymed Telescope.

Capella Observatory
Wooden dome of the 24“ Ganymed hypergraph. Image credit: Stefan Binnewies


Teide National Park

My Sister owns an appartement on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Tenerife is quiet light polluted due to tourism. But in the Teide National-Park, sky conditions are very good. Close to the Izana Observatory I spend a lot of nights to to astrophotography. Unfourtanately my whole gear was stolen from my car in 2015. So if I go there now, I just take a small portable mount with me, instead of a heavy equatorial mount.

Teide Nationalpark
My Observing Site at Teide National-Park Tenerife Island. Its located close to the Izana Observatory.


Namibia

In 2011 I made my first trip to Namibia, a beautiful country in the south of Africa. Far away from any human settlements, sky conditions are simply amazing. As Namibia is located on the southern hemisphere, it also offers a view to the southern constellations and the center of the Milkyway. Since 2016 i´m one of the astronomers in charge for Kiripotib Astrofarm. This is truly a paradise for any astronomy enthusiast.

Kiripotib Farm
Observatory at Kiripotib Astrofarm in Namibia, South Africa.