www.baader-observatories.com
In the neighborhood of our 3.5 m and 4.5 m AllSky domes, built in 2016 for “The Open University,” stands one of the longest-serving domes on Mount Teide: an 8 m slit dome that was originally installed 35 years ago for the GREGOR solar telescope. At that time, the slit of the dome was intended to be especially narrow for solar observation, but the concept later changed and a fully retractable dome was installed for the telescope instead (in 1980 the dome was still mounted on the tower; by now it stands a little off to the side, and the photo on the left was taken from inside the dome). Our old dome, however, is still in use and is rented out for changing projects with different telescopes.
Comparison: 1980 - 2016
8 Meter Baader dome - for 35 years on Teneriffa
The “interior” of the old 8 m dome. In our current 8.5 meter dome — installed on the Wendelstein — the slit is significantly larger.
The instrument mounted in the dome was a 60 cm Gregory vacuum telescope for solar observation in special spectral ranges.
- 8 inch refractor from Astro Physics (f/7.7) with a
- 6 inch guide scope (with Lichtenknecker objective). In parallel, depending on requirements, a
- 150 mm flatfield camera from Lichtenknecker or a
- 5 inch refractor from Astro Physics can also be mounted.
The instrumentation was mounted on an Alt 7ADN mount with automatic computer control.
Also because of this proven durability, institutes all over the world place their trust in a medium-sized company from Bavaria when it comes to dome construction — Baader Planetarium GmbH.
We look forward to the next challenge. We would also be happy to build your observatory exactly according to your wishes and ideas.
