Welcome!

Vasa Andromeda is a local amateur astronomy association located in Vaasa.
The association was founded in 1989.

Its purpose is to arouse, sustain and promote astronomy hobby in Vaasa by spreading knowledge of the stars, sky and atmospheric phenomena and objects. The public can get acquainted with the society's telescope in Meteoria observatory on Marenintie 226, Söderfjärden, where you can during the dark period of year learn what the night sky has to offer. Observatory has a unique location in the middle of an impact crater.

When the roof is rolled aside at the observatory, you get a magnificent view to the sky. Around the observatory there is a large area of arable land. The nearest forest, buildings and light sources are about 3 km away.

The main telescope of the observatory is Orion Optics UK ODK16. The telescope is a reflecting telescope of the Optimised-Dall-Kirkham type with 400 mm mirror diameter and focal length of 2720 mm. Since the telescope is PC computer controlled, you do not have to know where to find various objects in the sky. The operator selects e.g. Saturn or NGC 6543 from the pc Starry Night astronomy program and it turns the telescope to the corresponding object in the sky.

In addition we also have for the public presentations:
Helios, a Dobbson telescope with 200 mm diameter mirror
Sky Watcher Skyliner 200P, a Dobbson telescope with 200 mm diameter mirror
Binoculars

For observing the Sun at daytime we have a Lunt H-alpha solar telescope with 60mm lens diameter. The telescope has a bandwidth of <0.75 Angstroms.

Observations at Meteoria:

About one to two hours after sunset the sky is dark enough to reveal the light weakest objects in the night sky with the telescope. From early May to mid-August, it is too bright at night to see faint objects.

Examples of observations:
Moon's myriad craters and mountain ranges can be studied in detail with the telescope.
Solar system planets can be seen clearly in all the telescopes. Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings and moons are always interesting to study.
Comets in the night sky. Usually they are so faint that they are only seen with telescopes, such as Garradd autumn 2011 and spring 2012.
Numerous open clusters can be seen with a telescope, some also visible in binoculars, such as Pleiades and M37.
In our galaxy there are 158 known globular clusters. On the northern night sky visible depending on the season, a dozen clearly with the telescope e.g. M13 and M3.
A few nebulas can be seen quite clearly directly with the telescope, such as Orion Nebula and the Ring Nebula. Most are very small or so faint, that they can only be recorded photographically with a telescope.
Of the universe’s countless galaxies there are about a dozen really typical being able to be seen with the telescope, such as Andromeda Galaxy, M51, M81 and M82. Most of the galaxies are so faint and far away that they can only be seen with telescopes with photographic equipment.
With the naked eye can be normally seen the Milky Way band from horizon to horizon.
Sometimes are also seen shooting stars, the ISS Space Station, Iridium flares and auroras.
Satellites can be seen passing by in the sky every night.

In Meteoria there is also an exhibition on its history and development from the meteorite impact 540 million years ago until today. More information at http://www.meteoria.fi/

NOTE! Only Loisketie is plowed in winter! Observatorys open hours are on Andromeda's event calendar in Finnish.

Admission for adults 2 €, 1 € for children, students and pensioners. Free entry for Andromeda's members.