Description
In 2009, the Astronomical Outreach Centre of Fresnedilla opened its doors. Developed in collaboration with the City Council of Villacarillo, the Tourism, Trade and Sport Council of the Junta de Andalucía and the collaboration of the Parque de las Ciencias Consortium of Granada, this centre arises from the need to develop specific activities of dissemination and astronomical research in a dark sky of excellent quality, with a stable and permanent infrastructure of easy access to the general public.
The Fresneilla Observatory is located in the heart of the most extensive Natural Park in South Europe, the P.N. de Cazorla, Segura and the Villas, a unique natural attraction, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year. In the surroundings of the observatory we can visit places with a special charm: Navazalto, cascade of Chorrogil, around Aguascebas, Peñacorba, which are incorporated into the activity that the observatory develops through guided didactic routes, night hiking and orientation techniques and observation sessions in emblematic areas.
Spaces and equipment
The design and forecasting of the space of the observatory is based on the different services it offers to the visitor, based on a modest and functional conception. It has three different spaces:
Multi-use room. Exhibition of audiovisual of own production with the aim of introducing visitors to the topics of most interest and scientific news. It offers us a space in which to conduct courses, congresses, talks and conferences, development of workshops, exhibitions, introduction to the use of planispheres, of web tools in the world of astronomy and astrophysics.
Main Observatory. It is the heart of the center, under a dome of 5 m, is the most pointed equipment in the field of astronomical observation, including the main telescope of 460 mm of fully computerized aperture and a 300 mm Dark-Kirkham of excellent optical quality dedicated exclusively to astronomical photography. The equipment is completed with high-sensitivity CCD cameras for capture of deep and planetary sky images, filters and wheel with computerized filters, self-guidance systems and an automated weather station that controls all systems autonomously...
This complete equipment allows us to introduce the visitor into the magic of observation under dome by doing live observations or through monitor by receiving on closed circuit the images of both the telescope and the video or the computer. In turn your remote control program will soon allow us to make use of the On-line installation. Its advanced equipment allows its use by research and teaching teams.
Solarium. Located in the open air on the terrace, it allows natural planetarium sessions with green laser pointer, observations with prismatic different calibre and telescopes of different design and function (some of them self-making).
The aim is to introduce the visitor to the various techniques and means of observation according to the object to be studied. For this we will use plateaus and stellar cards. We also have five secondary teams with instruments for initiation, advanced and assisted navigation.
Activities
The Fresnedilla Observatory offers the user high quality experiences, exclusive and programmed and supervised by professionals with extensive experience in teaching and dissemination.
Our entity has been planning a series of activities that have been consolidated over the years, in our annual plan of activities: annual outreach days, open-door days, training monitors and initiation courses, astrophotography courses, observation sessions, workshops, guided tours, lectures in educational centres and participation in cultural weeks in them, support for congresses, visits of professionals to our centres, exhibitions, training courses for dynamic and scientific dissemination...
The methodology that guides the staging of each proposal allows the manipulation, observation and research by the participants, making use of various teaching instruments and the latest technologies, both audiovisual and instrumentation. At the same time, classic channels are used, close to the visitor, from murals, work guides to Tales and theatrical. In short, we are committed to an active, varied, original and quality methodology.
The complete equipment, the natural environment in which it is located and the quality of the sky, makes this area a reference in our community, offering the visitor the opportunity to make observations and activities in an observatory with professional benefits, providing a new alternative offer of leisure and cultural to the visitor of the Natural Park and affecting the tourist development of the area with an attractive, quality and respectful activity.
Is part of
