A view from the catwalk of the 3.5m telescope over Calar Alto to the north. From left to right you can see the Schmidt, the Spanish, the 1.23 m and the 2.2 m telescope building.
Schmidt
The building of the Schmidt telescope from the east side.
The building of the Schmidt telescope from the north-west side. In the background the domes of the 2.2 m (left) and 3.5 m (right) telescope.
The sun played hide and seek with me, here at the dome of the Schmidt telescope.
The Schmidt telescope looks up at the ceiling in its ground state.
The Schmidt telescope is for polar explorers: the observer’s desk is right next to the telescope and it can get pretty cold at night.
1,23 m
The building of the 1.23 m telescope from the east side.
Coming from the west you can see the dome of the 1.23m telescope on the left and the dome of the 2.2m telescope on the right.
2,2 m
In the east behind the 2.2 m telescope I found this buried submarine. An indication that Calar Alto must once have been at sea level.
The building of the 2.2 m telescope, now from north-north-west (or so).
On the left the dome of the 2.2 m telescope, on the right the dome of the 1.23 m telescope. (More west than north).
A modern sundial, it only has to be wound once every six months. The counterpart is in Heidelberg.
3,5 m
The building of the 3.5 m telescope. In the foreground the sundial.
The building of the 3.5 m telescope from north-northwest.
Sitting in the car, the building of the 3.5 m telescope comes towards you like this ...
... and at some point you do notice the 43 metre height
Fortunately, you don’t have to climb up here.
If you come on foot from the “hotel”, the building of the 3.5 metre telescope looks like this. On the left, the dome of the 2.2 metre telescope plays with the rocks.
The same again, only at a different time. Has anyone noticed that the dome has rotated?
View of the front ring of the 3.5 m telescope.
The observation room of the 3.5 m telescope. Well-tempered, but tiredness makes you feel cold at some point.
The control panel of the 3.5 m telescope. With this computing power you could have flown to the moon at some point, you need more to play Tetris!
other
The accommodation for astronomers (day sleepers).
my Boss
The nearest civilisation worth mentioning is in Almería, 70km away. Here is the beach.
The town hall square in Almería.
The town hall square of Almería.
Die Alcazaba.
View from the Alcazaba over the harbour district of Almería.
And here some unimportant technical data:
Film used: Agfa HDC 200-2, prints 10x15 cm², glossy on Agfa photo paper (was just in the vending machine at Media Markt)
Camera: Nikon AF600 (one of those cheap 35mm cameras that do everything themselves)
