Shortly before the decisive moment, Björn Wirtjes runs excitedly across the roof of the observatory and distributes a special reflective film that he has stuck onto a piece of cardboard. “The sun glasses were already sold out yesterday, but that’ll do, too,” says the deputy head of the Munich public observatory – and brings the improvised glasses to the visitors. At 12.15 p.m. the partial solar eclipse can be seen most clearly from the roof of the observatory. Anyone who cannot look through one of the telescopes set up, which is looked after by employees, can just blink through the hand-made glasses. A murmur goes over the roof, around 80 visitors stare at the sky.
About 20 percent of the sun’s disc is covered by the moon at this time. Wirtjes and his colleagues call it “nibbled”. The moon’s trajectory passes between the sun and the earth, so the cosmic event is briefly visible. It is a highlight in the event calendar of the public observatory, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last month.
The partial solar eclipse photographed through the telescope.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
A visitor with goggles.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Björn Wirtjes, the deputy director of the public observatory in Munich.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Almost 700 members are now registered in the observatory association, says Wirtjes. The active core consists of about 40 amateur astronomers who come regularly to events, help in the workshop or exchange ideas about cosmic phenomena.
One of them is Ottmar Hartl, who has been involved with the association for more than 30 years. He has always been enthusiastic about space, he says. But when he saw the moon landing of the Apollo 11 mission on television as a nine-year-old, that was it. “It was really crazy to see that live.”
Ottmar Hartl
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Another visitor to the observatory, however, admits that the thought of space always makes her feel a little uncomfortable. “It makes you feel so insignificant,” she says. Nevertheless, she often comes with her grandchildren. The planetarium and the tours are very practical.
Enthusiastic grandchildren – that’s how it starts. Wirtjes relies on youth work to secure the future of the club. There is a youth group from the age of 16 and a second group from the age of twelve, in which fortunately many girls are also active, says Wirtjes. That’s good for the club. The association also advertised at this year’s “Girls Day”. Now, for the partial solar eclipse, two school classes from the Allgäu have come to Munich. Wirtjes is happy about that. “We definitely feel that there is a strong interest in cosmology.”
The club has given itself the motto “Stars for everyone”. This also included the barrier-free expansion of the observatory and inclusive offers, explains Wirtjes, opening a small chamber and pointing to a special telescope that they bought last year. Wheelchair users or people with physical disabilities can easily change the settings on this telescope.
The moon has now disappeared from the sun’s field of vision. “We all have natural barriers,” says Wirtjes – and points to the cloudless sky. “What we want to be in this observatory is the window to space.”