On March 29, I travelled to Wilhelmshaven with a few members of our astronomy club to support a public solar eclipse event. And somehow I ended up in the news again – twice.
The eclipse took place in the morning and for once the weather gods decided not to behave like cloud demons and granted us clear skies. Our part of the event was mainly about offering safe ways to observe the partially eclipsed Sun.
I took my Seestar S50 and my 3″ Newton with me, which both offered a view in white light. Another member took his H-alpha telescope and offered a view of the solar prominences.
The eclipse was also shown on screen inside the Tiny Observatorium, a telescope in a trailer. This made it much easier for visitors to follow what was happening without crowding around a single eyepiece.
I also captured a time-lapse of the partial solar eclipse, which later appeared in footage by NonstopNews. They filmed parts of the event, used my eclipse time-lapse and even interviewed me briefly.
The video is in German, but I will link it here because apparently I am slowly becoming a recurring side character in local astronomy news xD
After the eclipse observing, the event continued at the Jade InnovationsZentrum. Our Astronomy Network Weser–Ems (ANWE for short) had something special to celebrate: the University of Bremen, Hochschule Bremen, the German Aerospace Center in Bremen as well as four astronomy associations and one astronomy foundation joined our network.
At the event some presented themselves with information stands and presentations. The focus was not only on astronomy and astrophysics, but also on geosciences, spaceflight, space research and public outreach. The German Aerospace Center also had a very popular stand where visitors could use VR glasses to experience the International Space Station and virtual spacewalks. This was quite interesting but my stomach got a bit upset from it 😅
One talk gave insight into the CubeSat project connected to the VIBES research programme. It was really interesting to see how students are working on developing a small satellite for astronomical and geoscientific observations with everyday products. Another talk focused on space-based geodesy and how satellite data can help us better understand the Earth system.
Later, the local newspaper took a group photo of the ANWE members and I was asked to join as well. Partly, I suspect, because they wanted a little more female presence in the picture xD
The day covered quite a range: from watching the Moon take a bite out of the Sun to CubeSats, Earth observation, relativity and virtual trips to the ISS. A perfectly normal Saturday, really 😉
A full-scale CubeSat model brought by one of the speakers, showing how compact small satellites can be. 
The DRL School Lab Bremen offered VR glasses to experience the International Space Station. 
Amateur astronomers were waiting for the partial solar eclipse. 
An amateur astronomer showed how his smart telescope operates. Behind him is a large 16″ truss-tube Telescope on a trailer. 
The photo shows a the partially eclipsed sun on March 29th 2025.