Night under the stars
Guided tours allow you to get to know the inside of the Fabra Observatory... and look through the telescope!
Do you know where is the star cluster M44 (also called the Pessebre) or the triple star system 24 Comae Berenices? Maybe you can discover it during this month or next May in one of the guided visits, including astronomical observation, to the Fabra Observatory (in the picture. Photo: Vicente Zambrano). Next dates are on Wednesday 12 and Saturday 13 April, but there are many more.
The visits are organised by Sternalia, a company dedicated to itineraries and activities in unique spaces, which offers two different formulas on Fridays and Saturdays during these two months (there is no visit on 3 May).
The first option is to visit the Fabra Observatory on Fridays. For about an hour and a half (18 €), they will guide you around the space, show you the modernist room of the observatory and, in the telescope room, let you make a brief observation and visit the outside of the dome.
In this very interesting visit you will discover that the architect of the Observatory is the same one who built the Model prison and many other buildings in Ciutat Vella and Eixample: Domènech Estapà. Take an aerial look at the Model prison and then do the same with the Fabra Observatory. You will discover that both buildings have a very similar structure and that the latter is, in fact, a fragment of the large panoptic structure we see on Carrer d'Entença. Look around and see if you can find any masonic symbols in the observatory's conference room (quite a surprise) and ask about the people who, in former times, acted as guardians of the facilities and lived there all year round.
But if you visit on a Saturday (29 €), the visit is even more complete. In addition to visiting the different areas and observing with a telescope, in this second version of the visits to the Fabra Observatory you can attend a lecture related to a scientific topic, watch a video on astronomy and enjoy a glass of cava or a glass of fruit juice as a gift.
If you want to get close to the sky of Barcelona, come and visit the Fabra Observatory, but first check the Sternalia website for all the information about guided tours.