STARS SHINE FOR EVERYONE



All children from special education and more vulnerable people should have the opportunity to admire the starry sky with the help of a telescope. That is the premise of the telescope making group “Kijkerbouw” of the Observatory Armand Pien of the university of Ghent and is an idea of Jean-Pierre Grootaerd and Harrie Rutten.
Schools for special education and institutions for children with disabilities may purchase a wonderful telescope through sponsorship for a symbolic amount. It is a refractor 80/900 as seen in the photo. The telescope will be delivered with a simple homebuilt mount.
Each school or institution within the above mentioned target groups from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, may contact a participating astronomy club in his or her neighbourhood. They can help the school or institution with the use of the telescope. The price of the complete telescope (telescope tube, viewfinder, zenith prism, two accompanying eyepieces and homebuilt assembly) is only 100 euros.
This particular action was made possible by BRESSER, which is the company that provides the telescopes, CNC Wood Engineering (Arcen, North Limburg) that provides the wood millwork and AST Optics Astro Market who donates an USB eyepiece (webcam) to each telescope.
A number of telescopes will carry the signature of important and famous people. The telescopes for the children from the Netherlands will have the signature of André Kuipers and Bruno Ernst. The telescopes for the Belgian children will have the signature of Dirk Frimout and Frank Deboosere and finally the telescopes for the children of Germany will have the signature of Ranga Yogeshwar and Alexander Gerst. The project is a collaboration with the Flemish astronomical association VVS(Flanders), All Flemish Public Observatories,the Royal Netherlands Association for Meteorology and Astronomy KNVWS, ESERO Belgium, Brussels Planetarium and Euro Space Society.

With additional support from Govert Schilling, Frank Deboosere, Dirk Frimout, Bruno Ernst, Ranga Yogeshwar and many others

Information can be obtained from the project leaders Jean-Pierre Grootaerd and Harrie Rutten: kijkerbouw@ugent.be

Please, support this charity!

As you may see on this page, we have already some sponsors for this project. You also can support this great initiative by making a donation to IBAN BE85 7360 1280 7906, BIC code KREDBEBB, address: Armand Pien, Rozier 44, 9000 Ghent (B). Anonymous donations are also welcome on this account.
Your donation enables us to formalize a project for several years where we can offer an expensive telescope with a full range of accessories for a only 100 euro.
With your donation, you give children with disabilities or learning difficulties in a home, the opportunity to build their own telescope (for the home), in which they are helped by an astronomy club or a public observatory in the area.
If you are affiliated with an astronomical association or a public observatory, you may report to us.
Yours sincerely,
Jean Pierre Grootaerd - Harrie Rutten

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