Urania Sternwarte

The Urania Observatory Zurich ( official name ) is a public observatory in the district Lindenhof ( circle one ) of the Swiss city of Zurich. Your name Urania she owes the muse of astronomy in Greek mythology - notably derived from Uranus, the sky gods in shape.

Plant

Building

The origins of the observatory go on a first observatory back on the roof of the guild house Meisen. From this location it was possible the " Astronomical Commission " in 1759 for the first time, to calculate the Culminatio solis and thus the exact location of the Zurich city on the globe. In later years, made ​​astronomical observations from the ( southern ) ' Karl Storm ' of the cathedral. The Swiss Federal Observatory was built 1861-1864 in connection with the building of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ( ETH) by Gottfried Semper for research purposes, but was not accessible to the public generally.

The sale of a property when Werdmühleplatz to the merchant Abraham Weill Einstein, subject to the condition at the construction site, " expected within five years of the transfer of ownership to create a beautiful, capable of the site adequate Baute ," initiated in 1899 to plan the oldest public observatory in Switzerland. In April 1905, the Bausektion submitted to the City Council the project design before, and in mid- June 1905 was the start of construction in the planned by Gustav Gull " Urania - axis " Sihlporte -Urania Street - Zähringerplatz. This was a project with building plans for a " large - Zurich ", of which only parts of the " office city Urania " with the residential and commercial building and the observatory ( Uraniastrasse 9) and the official houses I-IV for the purpose of summary of the municipal government offices were realized at the left side Limmat.

The Urania Observatory was the first concrete building, which was built in Zurich. The 51 meter high tower was built without connection to the rest of the house. He stood on a foundation of 48 wooden posts that were rammed 12 meters deep into the subsoil of marl, until they came upon the rock. It was a cast and vibration-free concrete slab, which was the base of the telescope. On Saturday, 15 June 1907, the opening of the commercial building and the observatory took place. Since then, some 51 meters high tower is one of the most distinctive buildings on the western end of the historic Old Town and is a historical monument since 1989.

Telescope

The telescope is equipped with a color-correcting, fraunhofer between two-lens system of 30 cm aperture and a focal length of 5.05 meters. It provides an up to 600 - fold magnification of the observed objects in the sky. Be used mostly 150 - to 205 -fold magnifications. The telescope in the dome space is the center of the imposing tower construction: The machine is on a column that extends without contact through the entire building to the foundations of the business house Urania. The dome is supported against shocks from inside and outside handlebar vibration with supports.

In contrast to smaller, publicly accessible public observatories, took the Zurich Urania at the beginning of the 20th century a special position. The twelve -ton optical telescope was developed by the company Carl Zeiss in Jena, then the leading manufacturer of optical instruments. The telescope was considered a technical feat, as a contemporary source reports: " This instrument represents the most perfect, which can be prepared according to the present state of science, precision mechanics and optics. Especially with respect to its special construction and with regard to the popular purposes, which has to serve it, it does not find its equal. " The telescope coined as " Urania - type " history of technology; a model was located at the Deutsches Museum.

On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the telescope and the dome should be fully renewed. The now one hundred years old Zeiss telescope, which continues to meet even today's claims with its imaging performance was dismantled in March 2006 and early April 2007 to comprehensively restored by a specialist workshop in Jena. The operator then underwent the same time the building and the interior dome of the observatory of a total renovation. In the night from 24 to 25 April, the telescope in a spectacular action was lifted with a 200 -ton crane in the observatory and reinstalled. On 4 May 2007, the official reopening.

Tasks and observations

The observatory offers tours star map - Moon, solar system objects, star clusters, stars, cosmic nebulae, galaxies - and special events to a wide audience as well as individual tours for schools and groups. The paying public tours take from 1 January 2010 every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 21:00 clock in any weather instead. The central location of the city of Zurich and superior observation tower also provide an unusual view of the city, Lake Zurich and the Alps.

At the same time just makes the location in the city of Zurich is a serious problem: The light pollution hampered by radiating upward facade lighting the observations, so that only a few galaxies and cosmic fog are still visible. Therefore, observations restrict practically to the moon and the planets and bright objects in the sky.

The Urania Observatory is operated since June, 2008 by the non-profit Urania Observatory Zurich AG, supported among others by the Friends AGUZ, the Adult Education of the Canton of Zurich and the Zurich city. The director of the observatory was incumbent from 1936 to 2008 the community college, the Board of Trustees has provided the capital for the establishment of the new operating company available.