es2529 — Organisation Release
A starry night in the ESO Supernova
Long Night of Astronomy on 13 September
11 August 2025
On Saturday, 13 September, the ESO Supernova will participate in the nationwide Long Night of Astronomy with a special programme between 18:30 and 23:00.
If you look up at the sky from Garching, clouds often obscure the view, or the sky is far too bright due to the many lights of Munich to see our Milky Way and the billions of stars around us with the naked eye. If you want to see more, you'll need a telescope. And that's exactly what you can do on 13 September during the Long Night of Astronomy at the ESO Supernova.
Weather permitting, telescopes will be set up outdoors and show you everything you can discover in the starry sky. At the same time, you can also explore the large exhibition and ask astronomers or engineers your questions about the Universe.
But there's more to discover. Starting at 18:30, immerse yourself in the world of invisible light with Wolfgang Vieser, the ESO Supernova Education Coordinator. Light that our eyes cannot see, but which is essential for astronomers to learn as much as possible about the Universe. This includes infrared radiation, which our first live planetarium show of the evening will focus on.
At 20:00, we'll travel back more than 2,000 years into the past and discover the secrets of the Antikythera mechanism, an impressive technical achievement that disappeared on the seabed for thousands of years. Dietrich Baade, an astronomer with ESO since 1981, will report on the discovery of the mechanism in a shipwreck, its breathtaking reconstruction, and how the mechanism creates a shoebox-sized image of the ancient Cosmos.
At 21:30, we will open the doors to our planetarium one last time to take you through the highlights of the current night sky.
As there are only a limited number of seats available for the activities in our planetarium a reservation is required in advance. Tickets are free of charge and there is no allocated seating. All activities in the planetarium are live and in German, with no translation available.
From 19:00 to 23:00, we will also show a video stream in our seminar rooms, which various German planetariums and observatories are specially producing for the Long Night of Astronomy 2025. In addition to short videos on the "Astronomical ABC," you can learn about some of the largest telescopes, astrophotography, and even watch short live contributions showing the Long Night of Astronomy in other parts of Germany. No tickets are required for the video stream, and access to the seminar rooms is possible at any time.
During the Long Night of Astronomy, the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin, the Society of German-speaking Planetariums and the Vereinigung der Sternfreunde, together with numerous astronomical institutions throughout Germany, invite you to share your enthusiasm for astronomy with a varied programme.
The ESO Supernova will be open continuously from 12:00 and only close after the end of the video stream at around 23:15.
Links
- ESO Supernova Long Night of Astronomy programme
- Official Long Night of Astronomy website
Contacts
ESO Supernova Planetarium & Besucherzentrum
Garching bei München, DE
Tel: 08932006900
Email: supernova@eso.org
About the Release
| Release No.: | es2529 |
