Blaauw Observatory

Since 2008, the University of Groningen has had a real observatory on the Zerniketer site: the Blaauw Observatory. It is located on top of the new Bernoulliborg building. Anyone driving along Zonnelaan towards the Zerniketerrein can see the shiny dome from afar. The observatory aims both to give students experience in making astronomical observations and to show the universe to the general public. For the latter, regular public evenings are organized. The observatory is named after the Groningen astronomer Adriaan Blaauw and was officially opened by Rector Magnificus Zwarts on September 11, 2008.

Students at work

The University of Groningen is one of four places in the Netherlands where astronomy can be studied. To gain experience in astronomical research, students from Groningen travel to the Canary Islands every year. There they can spend a week making observations with a professional telescope. To prepare for this, the students have already done practicals with the telescope of the Blaauw Observatory. This way they have already experienced what is involved in doing good astronomical research and are well prepared to work with a large telescope.

Visit the observatory yourself!

For the interested public, the observatory is open regularly. See the webpage on public evenings for more information. During these evenings you can marvel at the beauty of the universe. So if you have never seen the craters on the Moon, the rings of planet Saturn or objects far out in the universe, you should definitely come by! And when it's not bright there will be lectures about our place in the universe. See also the short video report by clicking on the “start” icon in the video.

The observatory

The observatory has a 40 cm reflecting telescope and is of the Ritchey-Chrétien type. It is one of the largest telescopes in the Netherlands. The telescope has high quality optics and is ideal for photographing objects deep in the universe. Photography is done with a special digital camera which is extremely sensitive to faint objects. Purchase of the telescope was made possible by a grant from the Gratama foundation. More information about the telescope can be found on the Gratama telescope page.

The telescope stands in a dome 6.5 meters in diameter and has room for 25 people. The dome was supplied by the Ashdome company from the United States. The telescope can be controlled from a small control room. There is also a small spectroscope room. Light from the telescope can be directed by fiber optics to this chamber to capture spectra. Students can then determine the chemical composition of stars, galaxies or the sun, for example.