Lectures

Here you will find an overview of the offered lectures and topics. All topics can be held individually as lectures, workshops or seminars. Special topics are also possible at any time upon request.

Dates 2023:

More to come soon

Youtube Links and lecture Reviews:

Im Olymp der modernen Astronomie – die Observatorien der Europäischen Südsternwarte ESO from 11. November 2021 at Ars Electronica Center Linz
Das größte Auge der Welt – Das Extremely Large Telescope der ESO from 20 January 2022 at Ars Electronica Center Linz.

Fundamental Astronomy and Astrophysics

Cosmic light - from the big bang until today

Light is commonplace and constantly accompanies us through our lives, yet its true nature is difficult to understand. In particular, light from the cosmos is as diverse as a painter’s colour palette, and for astronomers it is the most important message for deciphering hidden cosmic mysteries.

We humans can see part of this “colour palette of light”, but the vast majority remains invisible to our eyes. Modern astrophysics makes the whole palette of cosmic light visible, and so today we look back almost to the beginning of the world, billions of years into the past. The lecture is dedicated to the topic from a cosmic perspective, and brings some “light into the darkness” of the most well-known everyday phenomenon.

: The Orion Nebula and cluster from the VLT Survey Telescope

: NGC 300, ESO

: VISTA’s look at the Helix Nebula

Gravitational waves and merging neutron stars - towards multi-messenger astrophysics

For the first time ever, astronomers have observed both gravitational waves and light from the same event. The observations suggest that it was the merger of two neutron stars that caused the gravitational waves.

In the course of the catastrophic consequences of this type of merger, heavy elements such as gold and platinum are distributed in the universe. This discovery was made possible in 2017 by a unique collaboration of institutes around the world, including ESO facilities, in which Austria has also been actively involved since 2008.

: Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars

: Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars

: Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars

From Myth to Reality - Black Holes and the Centre of the Milky Way

In 1915, Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted them for the first time, and a year later the German astronomer Karl Schwarzschild found a solution for a non-rotating black hole. Einstein himself had little sympathy for their existence and it was not until the late 1960s that John Archibald Wheeler used the term “black hole”.

In the following decades, the evidence for their actual existence increased until major breakthroughs in astronomical observation were achieved in the last 10 years. The lecture reports on these exotic celestial objects and the current research results in connection with the extremely massive black holes in the centre of our Milky Way and in the elliptical galaxy M87. In the latter, it was even possible to image the “shadow of a black hole”.

: Simulation of gas cloud after close approach to the black hole a

: First Image of a Black Hole

: Orbits of stars around black hole at the heart of the Milky Way

Exoplanets - in search of the second Earth

When the first exoplanet around the star 51 Pegasi was discovered in 1995, no one really imagined what this would mean for the development of modern astrophysics. Planets around strange stars were hardly imaginable for many astronomers and the sky was free of strange planets. Since then, no stone has been left unturned: With the help of sophisticated detection methods on large telescopes of the 10m class as well as satellite missions such as “Kepler”, the sky suddenly became populated with thousands of planets around strange suns.

More and more, the search for planets in so-called habitable zones is taking centre stage. These are those areas of planetary systems where water can exist in a liquid state. What could be more obvious than the question: Is there life in space there? The lecture highlights the current state of exoplanet research and the search for Earth-like planets around foreign stars.

: Artist impression of exoplanet 51Pegasi b

: Habitable Zone, ESO

: Artist’s impression of the planet orbiting Proxima Centauri

Rosetta’s hunt for the comet

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft and its sister probe Philae reached comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014 after a journey of more than ten years through the solar system, and on 12 November 2014 Rosetta deposited the Philae lander on the comet’s surface. Since then, Rosetta and Philae have been accompanying the comet on its flight through the solar system and transmitting countless fantastic images and data of the comet to Earth.

The lecture reports on a unique mission in the history of spaceflight, gives an overview of the project, highlights in particular the events related to Rosetta’s arrival at the comet, the partially successful landing of Philae at the comet’s nucleus and reports on some outstanding scientific results.

: Comet Tschurjumov-Gerasimenko, NAVCAM, ESA

: Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, ESA

: Comet Churyumov-Gerassimenko, NAVCAM, ESA

Discover and marvel at Mars - a trip to our neighbour in space

After Earth, Mars is the best researched celestial body in our solar system. More is known about it than about some deep-sea regions on Earth. Even if there are no “little green men” living on Mars, it is considered a candidate for life in the solar system because of its similarity to Earth. We now know that water exists in large quantities on Mars, that wind blows and erosion processes take place.

Since the beginning of the space age, 53 space probes have been sent to Mars, the latest being NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed in Jezero Crater in the northern hemisphere of Mars in February 2021. For the first time in the history of space travel, it carries a robotic helicopter called “Ingenuity”, which flew autonomously on Mars several times. The lecture introduces our neighboring planet and makes us marvel at the fascinating landscapes and characteristics of the “Red Planet”.

: Valles Marineris on Mars, NASA

: Rock-strewn surface imaged by Mars Pathfinder

: Landscape on Mars, NASA

The digital universe - a journey to the boundaries of space and time

In 1997, the American Museum of Natural History was commissioned by NASA to develop a completely new kind of data visualisation of astronomical content. The result was the so-called “Digital Universe”, a database that summarises the entries of all known astronomical catalogues with distance data. In this context, a comprehensive visualisation of astrometric data in planetariums was made possible for the first time.

From the Earth to our planets of the solar system, the stars of the solar neighborhood, the Milky Way, the galaxies of the Local Group to the structures of the distant universe and the cosmic microwave background, the interactively designed journey leads. A lecture about science visualisation, astrophysics and the immeasurable dimensions of our cosmos.

: Solar System, AMNH

: Milky Way with constellation lines, AMNH

: Cosmic Microwave Background, AMNH

All the time in the world - the heavenly clockwork of sun, moon and stars

Time seems to be the most normal thing in the world and we all have our difficulties with it. But what do we actually know about it? Astronomers have always been considered the keepers of time. Even thousands of years ago, day and night, the division of the year into weeks, months and days were of immense importance to people.

Various calendar systems tried to bring structure to the celestial spheres and to order the lives of people on earth. Based on historical and philosophical considerations, the lecture deals with the astronomical dimension of time and time measurement: Earth’s rotation, the course of the sun and moon, calendars, clocks, navigation, time systems, leap seconds and modern time measurement.

: Sun with sunspots from Teneriffa

: Crescent moon from Vienna

: Pipe nebula from Namibia

Astronomy Tours

Celestial places - the world’s largest observatories

Astronomers are travellers. They travel to remote areas to see eclipses and astronomical events or simply to observe at observatories. Our excursion begins on Tenerife, where the largest solar telescope in Europe is located. On the “Roque de los Muchachos” on La Palma, in turn, ten nations operate telescopes, and for a few years now the “Gran Telescopio de Canarias”, the largest single telescope in the world, has been located there.

The southwest of the USA from New Mexico via Arizona to California also offers ideal conditions for astronomy and astrophysics. The journey continues to the Pacific Ocean, where one of the most important astronomical observatories of our time is located on the edge of the dormant volcano “Mauna Kea” in Hawaii. Finally, we travel to the “European Southern Observatory” in Chile to explore the southern sky. In the Atacama Desert stands the “Olympus of modern astronomy”, the observatory on Cerro Paranal and the ALMA telescope on Chajnantor.

: The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) by night, Chile, ESO

: VLT at Cerro Paranal, Chile, ESO

: Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii

Namibia‘s stars up close - a journey to the world’s most beautiful night sky

Namibia, the fascinating country in southwest Africa, is not only popular and well-known for its landscapes. Anyone who travels to the country quickly notices that the skies are clear and impressive like almost nowhere else. There are several reasons for this: On the one hand, it is the dry climate in the Namibian winter (June-September) and the high altitude on the Windhoek plateau, on the other hand, the very low population density and therefore hardly any light pollution.

Ultimately, however, it is the southern sky itself that can be observed from Namibia in all its glory. This fact has led to the emergence of a veritable “astrotourism” in Namibia for several years. Some farms recognised the potential and built observatories for the international community of amateur astronomers. But professional astronomers have also discovered Namibia for a long time and so there are the “H.E.S.S. telescopes” at Gamsberg near Windhoek for the exploration of the cosmos in the high energy range.

The author travelled Namibia several times for the purpose of astronomy and astrophotography. The lecture describes with numerous pictures the peculiarities of the southern sky, refers to the landscape, describes the experiences on the Kiripotib astrofarm and during the subsequent round trip through the southwest of Namibia.

: SMC and LMC at Kiripotib, Namibia

: Startrails at Kiripotib, Namibia

: Saturn and Milky Way, Namibia

A Cosmic Trilogy - Astronomy from New Mexico to Hawaii

In spring 2012, an extraordinary cosmic trilogy occurred: within 16 days, an annular solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse and the last transit of Venus in this century could be observed. The author travelled from Santa Fe in New Mexico via Arizona and California to Hawaii.

Large observatories such as the Very Large Array, Kitt Peak or Mount Wilson were on the way as well as the Arizona desert and, as a highlight, the most famous of all astronomers’ mountains, “Mauna Kea”, the 4200m high “White Mountain” on Hawaii’s Big Island. For the native Hawaiians it is a sacred mountain, for astronomers and astrophysicists it is the best place in the world to study the sky.

The lecture presents this cosmic trilogy, paired with pictures and experiences of an astronomical journey, from the wild west of the U.S. to the summit of astronomical research on: “Mauna O Wākea, the astonishing Mountain, that stands in the calm”.

: Moonrise over the shadow of Mauna Kea, Hawaii

: Very Large Array, New Mexico

: White Sands, New Mexico

Astronomical Observatories

Stargazing - from Galileo to the ELT

The starting point is the discovery of the moons of Jupiter by Galileo Galilei in 1610 with his telescope and the revolutionary ideas of the Copernican world system.

After an overview of the history of the astronomical telescope, the world’s most modern astronomical observatory, the VLT at Cerro Paranal in Chile, is the focus of the considerations. 10 highlights of astronomical research with the VLT take us to the limits of the known universe. Finally, there is an outlook on the future of astronomy at the European Southern Observatory with ALMA and ELT, the largest eye on the sky on earth.

: VLT at Cerro Paranal, Chile, ESO

: The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) by night, Chile, ESO

: Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), ESO

The stars of Tenerife and La Palma

In the summer of 1799, the famous explorer Alexander von Humboldt visited Tenerife. Within a week he explored the archipelago and even then recognised the uniqueness of the flora and fauna as well as the beauty of the sky over Tenerife. Today, Tenerife and its neighboring island La Palma are home to two of the most important astronomical observatories in the world.

At the Observatorio del Teide and at the Roque de los Muchachos, scientists explore the sky day and night. The lecture presents the observatories and their locations and reports on the beauty of the sky on the Canary Islands in numerous pictures.

: Observatorio del Teide

: OGS der ESA und Teide auf Teneriffa

: Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos

Under the Southern Cross – Astronomy in Chile

On the west coast of South America lies a fascinating country. It stretches from Peru in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south, more than 4000 kilometers along the Pacific coast. In contrast, its east-west extension averages only 180 kilometers and has great differences in altitude from the sea to the highest peaks of the Andes. The cold Humboldt Current off the coast and the high Andes in the east have created one of the driest deserts on earth in the north of the country, the Atacama. Already in the middle of the 20th century, several nations recognised the special nature of this landscape for the exploration of the sky and built numerous astronomical observatories there. The lecture takes us to the north of Chile and reports on extraordinary landscapes and special places where people have dedicated themselves to the exploration of the southern sky.

: UT4 at Cerro Paranal

: Cerro Armazones and full moon

: Souther Cross with danish 1,53m telescope

The biggest eye on the sky - ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope

At the end of May 2017, construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) began on Cerro Armazones in Chile. As the largest telescope ever, its primary mirror will have a diameter of 39 metres and 15 times the light-gathering power of the largest optical telescopes currently in operation. The ELT’s optics follow a new design in which light passes through a total of five mirrors and, with its adaptive optics, will provide images around 15 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.

The lecture introduces the European Southern Observatory ESO and its observatories in Chile, reports on the current construction progress of the ELT and some of the fundamental astronomical questions that will be explored with the telescope. The topics range from extrasolar planets, black holes, birth, life and death of stars, the evolution of galaxies, cosmology and early universe to fundamental questions of physics of our time.

: Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), ESO

: Artist impression of guidestar lasers of ELT, ESO

: Artist Impression of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) during daylight, ESO

History of Astronomy and Space Flight

In the footsteps of Galileo Galilei

He is one of the most famous philosophers, mathematicians, physicists and astronomers of the Renaissance. He lived in a time that seems so far away from us that we can hardly imagine. However, his research and life still shine today, and many of his thoughts and inventions are still present in our modern times.

The lecture accompanies us through Galileo Galilei’s life, from Pisa and Padua via Florence and Rome to Arcetri. The lecturer followed Galileo’s traces in Italy and reports on the physics and astronomy of the 16th and 17th centuries and his references to the present.

: Portrait Galileo Galilei von Justus Sustermans, 1636

: Grab Galileis in Santa Croce

: Florenz

Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and the third law of planetary motion

More than 400 years ago Johannes Kepler discovered his 3rd law of planetary motion, which is now named after him. It was on 15 May 1618 that he first noted the correct relation between the orbital periods and major semi-axes of the planets. All this happened in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, where Kepler had lived with his family since 1612.

He had already done the preliminary work for this in Prague, first as an employee of Tycho de Brahe, and a little later as his successor and Imperial Mathematician under Rudolph II. The lecture reports on Kepler’s time in Prague and Linz, on the difficult path to his third law and a new discovery in Linz in 2017.

: Astronomische Uhr und Tyenkirche in Prag

: Denkmal Brahe und Kepler in Prag

: Brahe- und Keplermuseum auf Schloss Benatek

The Star of Bethlehem - the story of a heavenly encounter

There are many stories about the “Star of Bethlehem”, which has always fascinated and moved people, historians and astronomers alike. What was shining so conspicuously in the sky at that time? Was it a star, a comet or even a supernova? Who were these astrologers from the East, where did they come from and what motivated them on their extraordinary journey?

Based on cultural-historical, theological sources in the childhood stories of the Gospels, the lecture reports on celestial observations in ancient Babylon, the journey of the magi to Judea, time and calendar calculations, comets, newly shining stars and Babylonian/Greek horoscopes. It is the fascinating story of a world-moving phenomenon, told from the perspective of astronomy history.

: Capella della Scrovegni, Padua

: Stern von Bethlehem Vortrag Linz, AEC

: Anbetung der Könige von Giozzo di Bondone in der Capella Scrovegni in Padua

Space Country Austria

On 2 October 1991, Soyuz TM-13 took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for its flight into space. On board was electrical engineer Franz Viehböck, the first Austrian in space. Today, European, American, Russian and Japanese astronauts fly to the International Space Station, Franz Viehböck remained the only Austrian space traveller.

Nevertheless, Austria became a space country. How did this happen? Within the framework of the “ESA Oral History” project, the lecturer conducted interviews with 17 pioneers of Austrian space travel. Based on these interviews, Peter Habison reports on how Austria became a space country and secured an important place in European space travel and space policy. In 2014, his book of the same name “Weltraum-Land Österreich – Pioniere der Raumfahrt erzählen” was published.

: Johannes Ortner by Stefan Seip

: Franz Viehböck by Stefan Seip

: Willibald Riedler by Stefan Seip

Science Communication

Ways of science communication and the sky above us

Scientific theatre, simulation in planetariums and science centres, television and radio documentaries…: The ways of popularising science and research have branched out widely. Scientists are constantly producing new knowledge that has to be prepared for the public. The classical educational institutions are in productive competition with the mass media and constantly face new challenges.

Which strategies and which portfolio of methods do knowledge mediators use today to convey complex contexts? Where can dramaturgical abbreviation help understanding and when does it degenerate into populism? The teaching of astronomy and space sciences plays a special role in this area. What can we learn from it and what new paths are being taken in communication with the public?

Online Lectures

In the Olympus of modern astronomy - the observatories of the European Southern Observatory ESO

ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the most scientifically productive observatory in the world. It provides astronomers and astrophysicists in Europe and around the world with state-of-the-art facilities for exploring the universe. In Chile, ESO operates three world-class observing sites in the Atacama Desert.

Several medium-sized optical telescopes are located on La Silla, the first ESO observatory. Further north, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) is located on the 2600 meter Cerro Paranal. The facility consists of four 8.2 meter telescopes, four auxiliary telescopes, the VST and VISTA telescopes and is rightly called the Olympus of modern astronomy. The third site is the 5000 meter high Llano de Chajnantor. Here, ESO is a partner of the ALMA collaboration, which operates 66 radio telescopes on the high plateau. In addition, ESO is working on the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the largest single telescope in the world, which will have a mirror diameter of 39 meters.

The lecture presents the European Southern Observatory, its observatories and projects in numerous fascinating images.

Weightless - Life and research on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits 400km above our heads. It has been permanently inhabited by astronauts since 2000 and, as our outpost in space, it is a habitat, laboratory and research station all in one.

The experiments conducted on the space station are diverse and range from questions of medicine and biology, material sciences and physics, the study of the earth and its climate, to questions of the sun and the planets in the solar system, and out into the astronomical vastness of the cosmos.

The lecture gives an insight into the weightless life and research of the astronauts on the ISS.