About us - Location and Instruments
Visit our Center in the Alps, where the light pollution is minimal and the conditions for
stargazing and astrophotography are fantastic!
The valley Prättigau is situated in the eastern part of the canton Graubünden, known for its beautiful nature and the lowest population density in Switzerland. Here, the conditions for practical astronomy are optimal. The AAV Center is located in the county of Luzein that has very low air and light pollution. The sky is wide open and transparent with a good seeing.
Latitude: 46° 55' 29'' North Altitude: 1070 m.a.s.l.
Longitude: 9° 45' 11'' East Timezone: +1 hr
Climate and Temperature
In summer, starting in late June, night temps fluctuate between 10°C and 15°C. In winter, they can drop rarely below -10°C.
Precipitation: approx. 900 mm/yr
Sunny days: approx. 130/yr
Average temp.: 8° Celsius.
Sky and Visibility
Alpine Astrovillage presents a wide open sky extending down to about 5-15 degrees above the horizon. Only in northern direction, the mountains reach about 20 degrees.
Seeing categories in arc seconds (arcsec)
V < 0.4
IV ~ 0.4-0.9
III ~ 1.0-2.0
II ~ 3.0-4.0
I > 4.0
III Alpine Astrovillage,
average seeing
Sky Quality
The county of Luzein (84 km2) has a population of about 1500.The AAV Center is situated in a dark agricultural zone without close neighbors.
The residual sky brightness, as measured with a Sky Quality Meter above the domes of the Astrovillage, reads 21.5 to 21.7 mag/arcsec2.
Meade 14-inch ACF
This telescope, a corrected Schmidt-Cassegrain attached to a Losmandy Titan mount on the terrace of the Center, is used for stargazing and introductory courses. On top of it rides a Borg 89ED refractor.
FSQ 106 on a Paramount
Paramount ME, a Takahashi FSQ-106 f/5 530mm apochromatic astrograph, Robofocus, Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, FLI 5-7 filterwheel with parfocal, IR-blocking, square 50mm LRGB and Ha/SII/OIII Astrodon filters. The same mount carries also a Takahashi FS102NSV refractor for DSLR photography.
A new 16 inch Spacewalk Dobson
with digital setting circles.
This telescope is easy to use and allows quick finding of all objects. Thanks to its exceptional mirror quality, the Dobson is a perfect machine to visually explore the cosmos.
Solar Telescope
For Sun observation using H-alpha filters, we have a 4-inch Takahashi refractor with a Coronado 90 mm system on a Losmandy GM8 mount.
As a second solar scope, we have a Lunt LS60THaDS. For video imaging, we use DMK and ZWO cameras.
