Reply With QuoteCool.
The Wempe observatory visit was scheduled late on Friday evening. However, instead of going back to Dresden, we decided to spend about 3 hours in the local pub, and Schweinehaxe was ordered. Here’s an illustration of why this culinary choice would not be approved by your cardiologist:
Eventually 9 PM came, and up we went to the Wempe Observatory, high on the hill over Glashutte. Before continuing with the story of how we got to see the Pleiades, a few words about the observatory.
At the beginning of the XX century, Glashutte manufacturers were relying on the Berlin observatory in order to receive precise time signals. As there were sometimes interferences and delays in receiving it, the decision to build a local observatory was taken. The observatory was finalized in 1910. A century of troubled history took its toll, and in the early 2000’s it was in a mostly ruinous condition. When Wempe decided to establish its production site in Glashutte, they realised that the observatory would provide the perfect location, so they decided to rebuild it. It opened its gates in 2006 and serves once more to the observation of stars and as a reference point for the precise time. Its shape is present on the case back of some of Wempe’s timepieces, as seen below (btw, this particular Wempe Zeitmeister was proudly worn during the visit to the observatory):
Getting back to the visit, what happened that evening could have served Jerome K. Jerome for inspiration.
It started with the fact that the lady who was to be our host couldn’t open the gate to the observatory’s premises, as the lock was completely frozen in the unexpectedly low temperatures. Due to the expertise of one rather large fellow from the Isle of Man, it turned out that if you pre-heat the key with a lighter, the gate will open after all. We all were encouraged by this, so the lady decided to present us the story of the observatory, in front of it, with most of the British side of our delegation being dressed decidedly elegant (a shirt and a jacket will do just fine, they must have thought). Stiff upper lip and whatnot, the gentlemen behaved as if all is just fine and they’re not about to suffer from hypothermia soon. After ten minutes though, an Eastern European voice asked in a blunt manner if the presentation could continue inside. Some discreet relief sighs were heard and we all moved inside the building. After two minutes of relative comfort, we climbed towards the observatory chamber. Which was, you guess correctly, freezing. We spent the next half an hour huddled in darkness and silence (except a few remarks about naïve dress choices, and some teeth clattering), as it turns out that starting the instruments and finding the celestial bodies requires both patience and precision. Our host’s enthusiasm on the topic compensated for a while the thermal conditions. Eventually, our sacrifice was rewarded, and we were able to watch and admire the Pleiades and Orion.
Despite the cold, or maybe also because of it, the experience rounded up the day, as it gave a sense of balance between our obsessive passion for minutiae of horology, and the actual scale of our existence at the border of a galaxy.
We left in cars heated to unreasonable degrees, happy to be back in a comfortable environment. The experience of sitting huddled in a small, freezing observatory remains however a memorable one.
Cool.
Nope. Freezing cold.Originally Posted by abraxas
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
My feet are still frozen
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A fantastic day/evening, but the observatory itself was most definitely the coldest experience in recent memory.
We should have realised when the bloody lock was frozen solid that it wasn’t going to be the warmest of nights once the observatory roof was open for the telescope.
It's just a matter of time...
Some additional shots I thought you might like
Last edited by paw3001; 1st July 2019 at 23:59.
Taters it was, but also beautifully clear with little light pollution. Using the optical instruments gave cause to pause and consider how astronomy is intertwined with temporal measurement. Seeing the Orion Nebula from Wempe was one of the many highlights of our trip.
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