AstroTechTalk – att

The AstroTechTalk (ger) offers a place to discuss, for all interested colleagues and especially for the technical departments, the project leaders, the administration and the scientists as the ultimately users:

status of instrumentation projects
scientific tasks and features of the instruments in construction or planned
new possible involvements
technical innovations and developments
technical problems and their solutions
logistical problems and their solutions
how to improve operation and observation
project standards.

Time: Always Mondays 15:00 - 16:00

Location: MPIA Hoersaal

Outline:

Announcements (news, visitors, etc.) (mainly in German)
Talk of about 30 min about a selected topic (German or English, will be announced)
Follow up discussion and questions (German or English, depending on the speaker)

Proposals for talks: Please send an email to "huber -at- mpia.de" or "naranjo -at- mpia.de" - alternatively you might reach us by phone (06221-528331 or -290) or in person (room 111 or 018) at MPIA.

Date	Speaker	Topic
17.03.2025	Jörg F. Wagner (University of Stuttgart)	The SOFIA flying observatory: technology and history SOFIA was an airborne observatory of NASA and DLR for infrared astronomy. It was operated at altitudes of around 13 km, where observation conditions are better than on the ground. A large reflector telescope was installed in the fuselage of a Boeing 747. Compared to satellite-borne observatories, SOFIA's observation instruments could be easily replaced and were directly accessible to scientists in flight. Construction and commissioning of the observatory lasted from 1999 to 2014, with observation operations continuing until 2022. The lecture presents the technology and history of the SOFIA project. Presentation: German Slides: English Questions: German, English
31.03.2025
14.04.2025
28.04.2025
12.05.2025
26.05.2025
09.06.2025
23.06.2025