Munich Observatory
Bayerische Volkssternwarte
Brilliant Star Nights are fascinating!
And the Munich observatory shows them to you in all their splendor !
The Bayerische Volkssternwarte is located near Ostbahnhof in the middle of Munich. Unfortunately being in the city is not the best location for watching the night sky with the world of stars, because of the light pollution. But you will be compensated for this by the convenience to reach it.
This is definitely much easier than going all the way to Palo Alto or any other observatory somewhere in the middle of the dessert.
The Munich observatory is run by volunteers and has a very friendly and familiar touch. First you are guided through the exhibition with competent explanations of the samples shown. There are some really cool samples of lunar rocks and pieces of comets and asteroids. Very impressive! You are even allowed to touch the exhibits.
Afterwards the guided tour continues to the "heart" of the observatory: the three big astronomical telescopes on the roof of the building.
They're pre-positioned to see the brightest stars of the month, like Venus in January or Saturn in April. Off course you can see the stars only, when the night sky is clear. I highly recommend to visit, when there aren't any clouds.
But even with bad weather, the Munich observatory is still worth a visit. Apart from the small museum, another highlight is the planetarium, which features a breathtaking show of an artificial night sky with millions of stars in a 4.5 m sky dome.
Even when the weather is too bad to see any real stars, you still can admire the splendid night sky (and in even better quality).
The guided tour through the exhibition as well as the stars to watch change every month, so you can come here more often than once.
The Sternwarte is open Monday thru Friday 9 to 11 pm (8 to 10 pm in winter) and every Monday night there's a guided tour in English. Check the details here: Bayerische Volkssternwarte
