Stargate at the Svábhegyi Observatoy! Antares and the Full Moon, Mars in the Beehive, and Venus in semi-phase!
Did you hear that? 'Stargate' opens in the Svábhegyi Observatory!!!!
Always wondered about the stars and the mysteries of the Universe? Svábhegy Observatory will open the door to the infinite curiosity with a new series of events full of endless wonders for everyone! At these pre-announced Saturdays, all the observatory's astronomical program sites are free to explore at your own pace. Families with the curious little stargazers are welcome from the afternoon, with a full range of interactive family activities, while everybody else (who can stay up late :)) can join us any time and stay until 11:00 PM.
If you want to reserve your spot, you can buy your tickets in advance (we recommend it!) however these days you can redeem your tickets on the spot and dive right in the joy of observing.
Schedule
This evening is full of special celestial phenomena!
The Full Moon will be in conjunction with the star Antares, the red giant that forms the eye of Scorpio. The planet Mars makes a spectacular passage through the middle of the beautiful Beehive star cluster in Cancer. And the planet Venus is just entering semi-phase with geometrical precision, with an arrow-straight light-shadow boundary and very fine cloud formations on its disk.
Let's see what we have in store for this afternoon and evening:
17:00-18:30 Daytime Astronomy:
The 'Stargate' opens at 17:00!
17:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Early arrivals can even catch a glimpse of the setting sun's sunspots and solar flares with our solar telescopes set up at the Telescope Workshop!
On the Observation Terrace of our research building, you can admire the uninterrupted panorama of the solar prominences. And in our Budapest Dome, you can use our largest hydrogen-alpha telescope to view the finest details of the solar atmosphere.
18:30-21:00 Viewing half of Venus:
Admire the silhouette and cloud cover of the planet in dichotomy, the geometrically accurate half-Venus, in our telescopes at the Observatory and Observation Terrace, and even in the Budapest Dome.
17:00-21:00 Interactive activities:
Before dark, we will have a number of scientific, interactive and entertaining activities closely related to astronomy:
On the Space-Time Trampoline, we will model the movement of planets and stars with the help of speeding marbles.
Meteorite Investigations: we'll be looking into our microscopes to see the rainbow-coloured crystals of meteorites with our own eyes. You can also get your own hands on objects from billions of years of space.
Our Spectrum Zone takes us into a colourful world of light and optical experiments, and shows us exciting things like black flames!
Smell the scents of the planets of the solar system by smelling the **'space perfumes' in the flasks of a planet-sniffing lab! **A unique experience, we guarantee it! : )
20:40-23:00 Full Moon and Antares star conjunction on the Observation Deck:
One of the stars of our evening is the conjunction of the full Moon with the star Antares, the eye of the constellation Scorpio. Antares is a red supergiant star 700 times larger than our Sun. The two celestial giants will make a wonderful spectacle in our telescopes. And at 20:40, we will also be able to admire the red disk of the rising Moon!
As evening falls, the starry sky awaits!
21:30-23:00 - Evening stargazing
The other star of the evening is Mars, the planet Mars, which is marching through the middle of the Beehive cluster. We'll be observing this special conjunction with our telescopes set up at the Telescope Workshop!
At the Telescope Workshop, the Observatory and the Budapest Dome, we will look at the most beautiful binaries and star clusters of the early morning sky: we will admire the extremely close orange and blue pair of Izar and the famous Mizar-Alcor binary star
Svábhegyi Observatory of Budapest
"The Svábhegyi Observatory is the largest demonstrational observatory in Budapest also an interactive astronomy experience centre. Our main goal is to bring the beauty of the Universe closer to everyone."
