Thuringia's Minister of Education, Science, and Culture, Christian Tischner, visited the Thuringian State Observatory. Professor Markus Roth, Director of the Thuringian State Observatory, presented an overview of the research conducted at the institute.
As a research institution not affiliated with a university, the observatory is under the authority of the Thuringian Ministry of Science. Minister Tischner used the visit to get to know the astronomical research institute better. Director Markus Roth welcomed him in the dome of the 2-meter Alfred Jensch telescope and introduced him to the various telescopes and instruments: in addition to the optical 2-meter telescope, these include the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope and the Tautenburg Solar Laboratory.
Thuringia's science minister Christian Tischner and TLS director Markus Roth in the dome of the 2-Meter Alfred Jensch telescope. Photo: TLSResearchers at the Thuringian State Observatory (TLS) are involved in numerous national and international projects. Roth gave an overview of the latest projects, such as PLATOSpec and SPRING. SPRING, which stands for Solar Physics Research Integrated Network Group, is a modern, global network of solar telescopes that will be used to continuously observe the sun in the future. PLATOSpec is a high-resolution spectrograph that supplements the sky observations of the European Space Agency's PLATO satellite mission with ground-based observations.
Extremely positive development of the research institute
Minister Tischner emphasized that, while preparing for the visit, he had seen how well positioned the research institute is and how well it has developed in recent years. He referred to the results of the evaluation of all state-funded non-university research institutes in the Free State of Thuringia by the Scientific Commission of Lower Saxony at the end of 2023. This evaluation, commissioned by the then Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Science, and Digital Society (TMWWDG), attests to the extremely positive development of the Thuringian State Observatory: “In the opinion of the expert commission, the Thuringian State Observatory is an efficient and internationally recognized research institution of systemic relevance for the entire astronomical community in Germany and beyond.” In his welcoming speech, Tischner commented: “What you have set in motion is worth continuing.”
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Minister Christian Tischner and Direktor Markus Roth observe how the 2-Meter telescope moves. Photos: Thüringer Landessternwarte |
(left to right) Andrea Schmidt, business manager at TLS, Matthias Hoeft, deputy director at TLS, Thurinigan science minister Christian Tischner, Markus Roth, director of TLS, Vera Hejduk, Thuringian Ministery for Education, Science, and Culture |
