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Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

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V.9 Girls' Day – Girls Visiting the MPIA<br />

On April 28 th , the fifth annual Girls' Day was held all over<br />

Germany. This nationwide event is an opportunity <strong>for</strong><br />

schoolgirls from grades 5 to 10 to catch a glimpse of job<br />

areas that are seldom considered as a potential career<br />

path by girls. On this day, mainly technical companies<br />

and departments as well as universities, research centers<br />

and similar facilities demonstrate their kind of work<br />

in numerous events. Sixty girls came to the Königstuhl,<br />

curious to see what they would find there, where they<br />

met very dedicated employees of the <strong>Institute</strong> who tried<br />

to answer their main question: »What do astronomers<br />

actually do?«<br />

This year, Girls' Day broke a new nationwide participation<br />

record. A total of almost 7000 companies and organizations<br />

offering almost 130 000 positions had registered<br />

on the Homepage www.girls-day.de. At the MPIA,<br />

under the coordination of Eva Schinnerer, the girls were<br />

able to visit the workshops of the technical department<br />

and learn something about the work astronomers do.<br />

At 16 stations, a total of 50 colleagues of the <strong>Institute</strong><br />

did their best to convey the fascination of research and<br />

technology. Klaus Meisenheimer offered the girls some<br />

insight into the research on galaxies and showed them<br />

the intriguing sky images obtained by the Gems project.<br />

With the help of a game, other colleagues imparted some<br />

knowledge to the young ladies about the nature of active<br />

galaxies and why astronomers are interested in these<br />

strange objects.<br />

At the laboratory, one of the questions was, e.g., how<br />

a telescope functions in space, where temperatures are<br />

very low. The girls especially liked Jutta Stegmaier's<br />

explanations concerning low temperatures. Jutta is a PhD<br />

student in the team developing instruments <strong>for</strong> the future<br />

HerscHel Space Telescope. A real telescope could also<br />

be examined: Ernest Krmpotic and Stefan Birkmann explained<br />

the working principles of the 70 cm telescope.<br />

The visit to the electronics laboratory turned out to<br />

be a spectacular action, too, since the girls were permitted<br />

to do their own soldering under the guidance and<br />

supervision of Frank Whrel. In the design department,<br />

they tried out the CAD software under the direction of<br />

Monika Ebert, which also turned out to be a magnet <strong>for</strong><br />

the young ladies eager to learn. Another highlight was the<br />

afternoon break, when Werner Laun experimented with<br />

liquid nitrogen and conjured up homemade ice cream.<br />

Other exciting stations were the computer center, the<br />

CCD laboratory, the precision mechanics workshop, the<br />

experimental set-up <strong>for</strong> interferometry, and many more.<br />

The editorial staff of the journal »Sterne und Weltraum«<br />

was also involved in Girls' Day and let those interested<br />

take a look behind the scenes. Maybe one or the other<br />

future subscriber was among them!<br />

Girls' Day is supported by numerous institutions,<br />

among them the Federal Ministry <strong>for</strong> Education and<br />

Research as well as the Federal Ministry <strong>for</strong> Family<br />

Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. In 2006,<br />

the MPIA will again open its doors <strong>for</strong> curious, future<br />

women scientists.<br />

(Eva Schinnerer)<br />

Fig. V.9.1: Axel M. Quetz (left) and Ernest Krmpotic (below)<br />

answer the questions posed by the girls.<br />

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