AiM - Astronomy and internet in Münster
(Astronomy 2.0)

"Views Over The Horizon" ( Exhibition 2025 )

Das Team Opening of the exhibition “Views over the horizon”

For a week, 10 female and 7 male students looked beyond the Münster horizon. Fascinating results were the images of the Dumbbell Nebula and the Saturn Nebula, both "burial shrouds" of stars at the end of their luminosity, as well as the tracking of Vesta, the second largest asteroid close to the ground. Only (1) Ceres is larger.

Hantelnebel Dumbbell Nebula M27: Remains of a dying star. ( LCO © Amelie)


Saturn Nebula Saturn Nebula NCG7009: Can be mistaken for the planet Saturn in small telescopes. (LCO © Felix)


VESTA Minor planet (4) Vesta on June 26 and 27, 2025 in the constellation Virgo. (LCO © Jandi)


At the end is the exhibition “Views over the horizon” with 23 pictures of the current starry sky and explanations. This exhibition can be viewed in the foyer of the Institute of Planetology at UNI Münster until July 13, 2025.

The team from 10 schools in Münsterland had 26 large research telescopes at their disposal at the MINT Camp 2025 “Astronomy 2.0”, which they were allowed to control themselves via the Internet. This included the Faulkes Telescope North, which with its 2-metre diameter mirror and a mass of 25 tons is located 3100 meters above sea level on the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii. This produced images of galaxies and burnt-out stars, as well as places where new stars are currently being hatched.

Lucia and Anna-Lucia locate the dwarf galaxy Caldwell 57 in the constellation Sagittarius.


Individual Advice Individual advice for success: Tom, Henri with Christian Ambros.


The participants were also impressed by the commitment and inventiveness of Prof. Dr. Bastian Gundlach's team in the experimental planetology laboratories. In the Kyro laboratory, for example, Paula Heitmann is trying to find out how comets collected ice in the early planetary system, only to occasionally appear near the Earth with an impressive tail.

Comet Research01 Paula Heitmann and Prof. Gundlach unpack new parts for Paula's experiment.


Comet Research02 Noah adjusts the distance microscope for Paula's experiment with Winfried Schafmann's support in the Kyro lab of IfP.


The STEM Camp 2025 “Astronomy 2.0” is a joint career-oriented event organized by Astronomy and internet in Münster (AiM), the Mathilde Anneke Comprehensive School (MAG) and the Institute of Planetology (IfP) at the University of Münster.

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