Science from spaceflight: What have we learnt from crewed space missions?

Lecture in English

Dr. Amelia Fraser-McKelvie (The University of Western Australia)

Friday, 20 September 2024, 8 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h

From the moment Yuri Gagarin blasted into space in 1961, crewed spaceflight has captured the imagination of the world. Along with the massive technological advances required to make human spaceflight possible, crewed space missions have conducted a plethora of science experiments to advance the knowledge of humankind. Fields as diverse as biology, geophysics, medicine, and astronomy have benefited from experiments performed by astronauts in microgravity. I will summarise some of the most interesting science experiments that have taken place from the early days of the space race, through to cutting-edge research taking place today.

Credits: NASA

Once in a lifetime star explosion: T Coronae Borealis

Lecture in English

Dr. Ioannis Kamaretsos (Munich Public Observatory)

Friday, 12 July 2024, 8 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h

T Corona Borealis is a well-known binary star system in which luminous explosions have occurred twice in the last two hundred years. These explosions, known as nova outbursts, are thought to occur at regular intervals. It is predicted that anytime this year it will go from its current very low brightness to an outburst visible to the naked eye, roughly equaling the apparent brightness of Polaris. In this talk we will discuss the nature of this phenomenon, the physical properties of the system, the accuracy of the prediction as well as how it can be observed. Following the lecture, we will use the telescopes on the roof to observe the early summer constellations. Tips will be given on how to quickly detect the nova, should it occur.

Lecture by Dr. Markos Skoulatos (TU Munich) – in English

Friday, 7 June 2024, 8 p.m.

Without any doubt, the oldest computer of mankind, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, is the greatest technological achievement of antiquity. A century was necessary in order to reveal its secrets. What is it though, that inspires until now four generations of scientists?
In this talk, we will navigate from its discovery by sponge divers, up to the latest word of modern technology in order to solve its puzzle. I will analyse its functions, epicyclic and differential gearings, the indications it gives us and how to read them. We will see how astronomy, mathematics and engineering, all come together at a small portable mechanical device. At the end, there will be an opportunity to see from close my real model reconstruction. Our purpose is to familiarise with this “mysterious” construction as well as to individually discover what it is that inspires, still, despite 2 millennia from its original construction.

More info: http://www.eternalgadgetry.com

Lecture by Dr. E. Bianchi (Vera Rubin Fellow at the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS) – in English

Friday, 12 April 2024, 8 p.m.

How did our planet form? Why is there life on Earth? Each of us has asked these questions at least once in our lifetime. Planets are the product of a cosmic recipe that begins with a cold and dark cloud and ends with a star and its planetary system. As of today, astronomers detected more than 5000 planets orbiting around stars that are not our own Sun. Although we are still not able to detect evidences of life on other planets, upcoming space missions will make it achievable in the near future. Terrestrial life is based on relatively small molecules containing carbon atoms, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.
During the presentation, I will talk about the origins and formation of organic molecules in space and discuss their potential role in seeding life on a young Earth.

Problems in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Lecture in English

Dr. Ioannis Kamaretsos (Munich Public Observatory)

Monday, 18 March 2024, 7 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h

The Twin Paradox and its resolution

Lecture in English

Boris Lohner (Munich Public Observatory)

Tuesday, 12 March 2024, 7 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h

Explanations of the twin paradox sometimes give the impression that special relativity is defective and that this „defect“ requires general relativity to be „repaired“ – or give the impression that time dilation is not real but a mere effect of observation. In this talk it is shown how the twin paradox can be resolved in a consistent way while staying within special relativity.

Lecture by Prof. Dr. Selma E. de Mink (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics) – in English

Friday, 8 March 2024, 8 p.m.

When seeing stars in the night sky over Munich on a clear evening, you may be able to pick out some of the constellations. Those with sharp eyes may even notice the stars have subtly different colors, such as the red supergiant star Betelgeuse that makes the shoulder of the Orion constellation. Some can even be seen to be double, such as Mizar and Algol in the big dipper (großer Wagen) that forms a multiple-star system.

In this talk, I would like to share some of the latest advances in our understanding of stars and binary systems. What does a star like Betelgeuse look like if you were close? – I will show movies from our latest computer simulations of the boiling surface. What is a binary system? – I will explain why astronomers now think that almost no star is alone. How are the lives of binary stars different? – I will show what a so-called vampire system is, where one star becomes younger by ‘eating’ the outer layers of its companion. What are gravitational waves and what does that have to do with binary stars? – Come to my talk and I hope to give you a taste of all these exciting new insights.

The talk will be in English, but the speaker will be happy to take any questions in German.

The dawn of high energy neutrino astronomy

Lecture by Prof. Dr. Elisa Resconi (TU München) – in English

Friday, 24 November 2023, 8 p.m.

The James Webb Space Telescope

One Year on the Most Powerful Telescope Ever

Lecture in English by Paul Salazar (Munich Public Observatory)
Friday, 10 November 2023, 8 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h

Die deutsche Fassung des Vortrags folgt am Freitag, 1. Dezember 2023, 20 Uhr.

Get your ticket here!

• Zum internationalen Tag des Planetariums am 7. Mai  — 100 Jahre Planetarium 2023–2025 •

The JUICE Mission: Europe heading to Europa and the other icy moons of Jupiter!

Exclusive Livestream from Planetarium Hamburg in cooperation with ESA and IPS

Event in English · Fragen und Diskussion auch auf Deutsch möglich

Sunday, 07 May 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Volkssternwarte München, Rosenheimer Str. 145h, 81671 München

On the occasion of the new International Day of Planetariums on May 7, an exclusive all-European livestream, organized and hosted by Planetarium Hamburg together with ESA and IPS – soon celebrating the 100th anniversary of the invention of the planetarium in Jena and Munich – featuring ESA mission heads, presenting the JUICE mission and its objectives.