A telescope that automatically projects high-quality astronomical images, such as those captured by Hubble, atop those seen through its own eyepiece has been produced by German researchers.

The telescopes' creators, Andrei Lintu and Marcus Magnor, from the Max Plank Institute for Informatics in Saarbrucken, Germany, hope the tool will encourage more first-time observers to become and stay interested in astronomy.

"The main motivation of our work is to increase the interest in astronomy among the general public who are quite unimpressed after their first glimpse through a telescope," they write in a paper that will be presented at the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference 2006 in Alexandria, Virginia, US, on 28 March.

Graduate student Lintu designed the system to overlay high-resolution images onto actual observations to help beginners visualise the structures of faint and distant objects that can otherwise appear as little more than fuzzy blotches on the night sky.

The augmented-reality system combines customised planetarium software, a motorised telescope, a portable computer and a custom-made projection unit. The telescope labels celestial objects in its view and can overlay additional information, including position, brightness and contrast.

Star parties

Lintu notes the telescope is not designed for seasoned observers. "It's much more for members of the public who have no idea how it should look when they peer through a telescope," he told New Scientist.

Bernie Volz, president of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston, Massachusetts, US, says an augmented reality telescope could serve as a useful educational tool. At star parties, bright objects such as the Moon, Mars and Saturn elicit "the wow factor" from novices, he says. "But when they look at galaxies or planetary nebulae or something that is just a fuzzy white spot in the sky, they don't have that kind of reaction."

He says novice astronomers often come to astronomy with high expectations, hoping to glimpse spectacularly bright Hubble-like views using backyard telescopes. When they instead see distant galaxies as amorphous grey blotches, "they're often disappointed", Volz says.

So far, the prototype is one of a kind and there are no plans to mass-produce the system. But Lintu says he is curious to see what kind of response the telescope receives at the March conference. Ultimately, the researchers plan to mount the prototype in a dome at the Max Plank Institute in Saarbrucken.