Dept. of Theor. Phys. & Astrophysics
Kotlářská 2 (Building No. 6)
CZ-611 37 Brno
Czechia
E-Mail: honza@physics.muni.cz
Astronomical Course introduced the beauty of the night observation to the new students of physics
Brno, 2 October 2015
At the beginning of the second half of September, students of Physics of Faculty of Science met at the observatory in Vyškov, where they intensely devoted their time to astronomy over the next five days. Although most of them were newcomers in this field, they have dealed with a quantity of tasks, including observing of solar flares and finding the planets Uranus and Neptune or Venus in the daytime sky. On the program, there have been theoretical lectures, which alternated with practical measurements. During clear nights, participants used the 50 cm telescope, and watched the most interesting objects, which autumn sky offers.
On 14th to 18th September the fifth edition of the Astronomical Course was held, organized by the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, led by astrophysicists Filip Horch and Zdeněk Janák. This course is traditionally held just before the start of the semester and is dedicated not only for bachelor's students in astrophysics. The main task of the course is to provide students with a primarily practical aspect astronomical observations and broaden their skills in working with telescopes. This year's program was also supplemented by lectures of selected experts - on the most current topics, such as Extrasolar planets, or X-ray astronomy.
On the participants a series of tasks awaited, from measuring the solar constant, through adjustment and centering telescopes, to finding planets not only at night, but daytime sky. For most students it was a difficult task, since, according to the organizer dr. Filip Hroch: "Most of the applicants have never did astronomy, so we started literally from zero." However, astronomical novices have mastered all the goals, including detailed observations of the sun and the mapping of sunspots.
For watching movie from Sun observations click here.
Mgr. Lenka Zychová, zychova@physics.muni.cz
Vyškov Observatory is located on the eastern edge of town Vyskov, in Marchanice and itis part of the DinoPark. The current director is Mgr. Dobromila Patáková and among external staff of the observatory are mainly students of Astrophysics of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University. The observatory offers not only program for the public but also allows MU students to use telescopes for their own scientific research.
