STScI

Reading day at the observatory

Together with the Oberberg Education Office, we took part in the nationwide Reading Day. The response from pupils was surprisingly high for us, especially as their schools were not exactly around the corner. The “booth” was certainly full! First there was a remarkably intensive question-and-answer session on the subject of planets, stars and the Big Bang. We were visited by young people with a genuine interest in the subject and we were quite afraid of the supposedly “stupid questions” that weren’t so stupid after all.

Our colleague Patrick Staden (sitting in the picture) then read a story from the “Star Diaries” by Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, which is about crazy self-encounters in various “gravitational whirlpools”. The audio file can be downloaded here:

We then presented our complex during a tour and further discussions. At the end, there were further discussions about the opportunities at the observatory and in our association. And then there were also students with extensive programming skills and we hope that they will join us.

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