The new season of star observations at the Astronomical Tower of the University of Latvia (LU) begins with the installation of a new telescope — with the largest lens in its entire existence, reports TV3 News.
Previously, during public demonstrations, astronomers often had to explain what an object actually looks like through a telescope, but now visitors will be able to see everything with their own eyes.
"This telescope is much, much better than the previous ones. First of all, it has a larger mirror — it collects more light. Secondly, it has better resolution, which means that if before two stars merged into one point of light, now we will see them separately. We will be able to distinguish more distant and fainter objects," said astronomer Vitaly Kuzmov.
Among the new objects for observation are the two most distant planets in the Solar System: Neptune and Uranus, which were previously inaccessible for viewing. This is already the sixth telescope installed at the Astronomical Tower, with the previous one serving for 18 years. A special fundraising campaign was organized to acquire the new installation.
"Obviously, people love stars and want to see them, so we were able to acquire the telescope fairly quickly. For the first time, we invited LU alumni to make a donation as a gift to the university — and they responded. As the astronomer from LU noted, the idea was realized unexpectedly quickly," said the head of the LU Foundation, Zaiga Pute.
A total of 5000 euros was needed to purchase the telescope, which was donated by 109 people. The old telescope is planned to be transferred to one of the schools — although it is no longer suitable for quality observation of stars and planets, it is still usable, for example, for observing the city.
This season, most comets will only be visible through a telescope.
"In the last days of October — around October 30 and November 1 — the comet C2025A6 lemon will be visible to the naked eye. And on October 31, another one — C(...)suan — may visually appear next to it. There is a chance that we will see both comets in one frame — a rare and interesting event," explained Kuzmov.
In addition, this season Saturn will be visible in a particularly unusual way — almost without rings, until the end of November. According to the astronomer, the season, as usual, promises to be interesting — with plenty of observations of stars, planets, and meteor showers. The main thing is that the weather conditions are favorable — after all, a few years ago, due to cloudiness, demonstrations were held only five times throughout the entire season.
The season of public demonstrations has already begun. By the way, this is the 40th season when the Astronomical Tower is open to visitors. Information about visiting and prices can be found on the website of the University of Latvia.
