Optical Equipment
The optical equipment of the observatory, was financed mainly by private donations and official benefits.
A 12-inch reflector (MPT 300) was acquired with the extension of the observatory in 1987. It serves now as a photo-optical telescope inside the astrodome. For the 30th anniversary in 1996 the old 12-inch- Newton/Cassegrain was replaced by a 24-inch-reflector.
Today the observatory provides the following astronomical equipment:
![[24-inch-reflector]](/pic/60er.jpg)
Primary instrument (visual):
- 24-inch-Cassegrain reflector with Nasmyth focus (f = 7200 mm), optics by Carl Zeiss Jena
- 6-inch refracting telescope (f = 1500 mm) by Lichtenknecker
- Altazimuth fork mount, computer controlled
![[Pferdekopfnebel als Firstlight mit Shapleylinse]](/pic/IC434_First_light_Shapleylinse_HF.jpg)
The primary instrument was overhauled in summer 2006.
In the last time we buyed a few improvements for our photography. The adjoining picture was made as "first-light" through the new Shapley-lens. It shows IC434, the Horsehead.
![[MPT300]](/pic/mpt300.jpg)
Secondary instrument (photo-optical):
-
12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (MPT 300)
(f= 1500, alternatively f = 4000 mm) - 5-inch Starfire refractor (f = 1030 mm)
- 7-AD equatorial mount by Alt, computer controlled
- Autoguider STV from SBIG
Other instruments:
- 8-inch Celestron "C8"
- 20x100 binoculars from Myauchi
- Daystar H-Alpha filter for solar observations (0.5Å)
