Students and staff of the University of Groningen have placed a star dome in the Lauwersmeer National Park this weekend. The new observatory is intended to be operational in September. That reports the Noorderkrant.
It concerns students of the Kapteyn Institute of Astronomy of the RuG. The installation of a large, white, star dome was done in close consultation with Staatsbosbeheer. The dome is placed near the Lauwersnest activity center. De RuG already has an observatory on the Zernike Campus. With the Blaauw Observatory you can already see a lot, but you do not see as much as in the dark Lauwersoog. National Park Lauwersmeer was given Dark Sky Park status in 2016. This means that there is virtually no artificial light in the park.
The new observatory costs 40,000 euros. The Gratema Foundation gave a subsidy of 25,000 euros, the remaining part of the costs is financed by the RuG. From September two or three people can take place in the dome, but the telescope can also be operated remotely. This means that students can study the firmament via a high-quality connection from, for example, the Zernike Campus via the telescope in the Lauwersmeer area.
–
