Spaces and equipment

The design and space forecast of the observatory is based on the different services it offers to the visitor, starting from a modest and functional concept. It has three different spaces:

 Multipurpose room. Exhibition of self-produced audiovisuals with the aim of introducing the visitor to the most interesting and current scientific issues. It offers us a space in which to carry out courses, congresses, talks and conferences, development of workshops, exhibitions, introduction to the use of planispheres, of Web tools in the world of astronomy and astrophysics,...

Main Observatory. It is the heart of the center, under a 5 m dome, houses the most advanced equipment in the field of astronomical observation, including the main telescope of 460 mm fully computerized aperture and a Dark-Kirkham 300 mm of excellent optical quality dedicated exclusively to astronomical photography. The equipment is completed with high sensitivity CCD cameras for deep sky and planetary image capture, filters and computerized filter wheel, auto-guiding systems and an automated weather station that controls all systems autonomously .

This complete equipment allows us to introduce the visitor to the magic of observation under the dome by making live observations or through a monitor, receiving in closed circuit both the images from the telescope and the video or computer. At the same time, its remote control program will soon allow us to make use of the on-line installation. Its advanced equipment allows its use by research and teaching teams.

Solarium. Located outdoors in the terrace, it allows to carry out sessions of natural planetarium with green laser pointer, observations with binoculars of different caliber and with telescopes of different design and function (some of them of own elaboration).

 The aim is to introduce the visitor to the different techniques and means of observation depending on the object to be studied. For this we will make use of planispheres and star charts. We also have five secondary equipment with instruments for initiation, advanced and assisted navigation.

Activities

The Fresnedilla Observatory offers the user high quality, exclusive experiences, programmed and supervised by professionals with extensive experience in teaching and outreach.

 Our entity has been programming a series of activities that with the course of the years have been consolidated, taking shape in our Annual Plan of activities: Annual days of popularization, open days, training courses for monitors and initiation, astrophotography courses, observation sessions, workshops, guided visits, talks in educational centers and participation in cultural weeks in the same, support to congresses, visits of professionals to our centers, exhibitions, training courses of dynamization and scientific popularization...

 The methodology that guides the staging of each proposal allows for manipulation, observation and research by the participants, making use of varied didactic instruments and the latest technologies, both audiovisual and instrumentation. At the same time, classic channels are used that are close to the visitor, from murals, work guides to storytelling and dramatizations. In short, we are committed to an active, varied, original and quality methodology.

The complete equipment, the natural environment in which it is located and the quality of the sky, makes this informative space a reference in our community, offering the visitor the opportunity to make observations and activities in an observatory with professional services, providing a new alternative leisure and cultural offer to the visitor of the Natural Park and emphasizing the tourist development of the area with an attractive activity, of quality and respectful with the environment.