- update with information on the IAS remote observatory at Hakos will follow shortly -
- Category: Observatories
The Gamsberg mountain in Namibia ranks amoung the best locations for astronomers worldwide: 220 astronomically usable nights per year with exceptionally good seeing conditions render this location comparable with famous observatory sites like La Palma, Hawaii or the Chilean Atacama desert. Formerly intended as a possible site for a large southern observatory of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, nowadays the Gamsberg is available for the IAS amateur astronomers.
- Category: Observatories
In sight of the Gamsberg the IAS operates another observatory with several large telescopes on the area of Hakos Astrofarm. Observation conditions are almost as good as on top of the Gamsberg. In a double roll-off roof building are set up a 20“-Cassegrain telescope and a 20“- Newton astrograph as well as a 20”- Ritchey-Chrétien telescope in a 4.2m dome. A smaller 3m dome hosts an Alt 7AD mount, which can be combined with different telescopes. Another roll-off roof protects our C14 on a large fork mount. External piers, some with mounts can be equipped with own instruments.
Furthermore our new telescope is currently in a testing phase: a huge 80-cm-Newton in an azimut fork mount! It arrived in Namibia in January 2019 and was set up by an enthusiastic team in March. First observations show the great potential of the large aperture under Namibian skies!
Currently the mechanism to open the roll-off roof is missing, as soon as it is installed the telescope will be ready for usage of the IAS members. Stay tuned for updates!
- Category: Observatories