Dark and clear Night of Nights

The Blaauw Observatory of the University of Groningen welcomed a record number of 420 visitors on October 27, for the annual Night of Nights.

ntil the last moment it was uncertain whether the clouds would disappear. Exactly on time they did, and during the entire event the visitors were able to enjoy the stargazing. For this special occasion, the lights of the surrounding buildings at the Zernike Campus were dimmed.

Special attention was given to the 10 year anniversary of the Blaauw Observatory, in the form of lectures about the history of the observatory and the world-renowned professor Adriaan Blaauw, to whom the observatory is named. The guests were delighted to see the craters on the Moon from nearby, as well as the planet Mars and the astonishing open star cluster known as Pleiades. Even Andromeda, the near neighbour of the Milky Way, was clearly detectable.

In the Astronomy News astronomers from the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute and space research institute SRON showed the current developments in the field of astronomy, both in Groningen and worldwide. Visitors learned a lot about the universe. One person found it very interesting to discover that stars are born, evolve, and pass away, just like human beings. For many visitors it was the first time to look through a real telescope, something they wanted to do since they were a child. The observatory regularly organizes public nights, for more information, see the Blaauw website.