Astrophotography at Kiripotib Farm
Namibia has been a magnet for amateur astronomers for around three decades. And professional astronomy is once again keeping an eye on this country on the southern tropic. But what is the charm of Namibia for star lovers? Two astrophotographers who have been traveling to the country since 1993 report here. Most recently, they visited the Kiripotib guest farm, where they once again devoted themselves to the jewels of the southern sky.
Namibia is diverse. Nature lovers who travel the country appreciate the unique landscape in the southwest of the African continent with its diverse animal world. Scientists, on the other hand, may first think of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H. E. S. S.), a network of five Cherenkov telescopes southwest of the capital Windhoek, which gives researchers new insights into the cosmos at high energies. In Namibia, we amateur astronomers are particularly fascinated by the splendor of the starry sky as it appears to our eyes: the band of the Milky Way, which stretches from the constellations Sails and Sterndeck to Sagittarius and Scorpio, or the two Magellanic Clouds, two nearby satellite galaxies of our Milky Way system, which never cross the horizon in Europe.
In Namibia a dark sky awaits us, free from light pollution, which is no longer the case in almost all of Europe and even on the Canary Islands. With just under three inhabitants per square kilometer, this country is the most sparsely populated country on earth after Mongolia; in Germany there are 82 times as many people. Another reason for astro tourism is the blue sky, which is often clean in the "southern winter", between May and September - a consequence of the special geographical situation in southern Africa, including the cold Benguela current along the Atlantic coast. The political situation in the country is stable and largely calm. Last but not least, the presence of several astro farms make Namibia a dream destination for astronomers …
