The first astrocusanus pub meet-up

 tl;dr - On the late morning of December 27 2025, a group of thirteen current and former members of astrocusanus met for an informal get-together at the local pub.

Image 1: The participants of the first official astrocusanus meet-up. 

The students astronomy group of the Cusanusgymnasium Bruneck first saw the light of day in 2006 – the year of the total solar eclipse in Turkey. After witnessing the two eclipses in 1999 (Austria) and 2001 (Zambia), I definitely didn't want to miss this one. However, this time the celestial event would take place on March 29, right in the middle of the school year. I therefore I proposed to the head of my school to combine pleasure with business and to assemble a travel group of young astronomy enthusiasts, who were just as eager to see the eclipse as I was. As you can probably guess, this was an easy task. A few weeks later we all experienced one of the most fantastic shows this planet has to offer at the sunny beach of Side.

Image 2: The "fellowship of the diamond ring" in Antalya. I'm third from left. 

Image 3: Totality - © Albert Kofler

Image 4: Back in Side, we even measured the temperature curve during the eclipse.

Two years later, astrocusanus pulled through its first major observational project and determined the speed of light in vacuum with an astronomical method. From there on, only the sky was the limit. 😉🚀

Now it is 2026, and the astronomy group is as vital and prolific as ever. At the end of this school year, we say goodbye to seven members who are finishing their school careers and going on to seek new challenges out in the big wide world. However, promising replacements among the first graders is right at hand.

Over the last years, I occasionally had coffee (or Ramen soup, or pizza) with some of the alumni, some dropped by for a visit at our observatory. But now it was time to think bigger – I decided to organize the first official astrocusanus pub meet-up. Thirteen current and former members followed my invitation. The meeting itself was somewhat awkward at the beginning. I admit, I felt compelled to "do the teacher thing", managing the seating arrangement, introducing everyone, making sure, everyone had their drinking orders placed. Soon I realized how silly that was. These were no longer my students, I wasn't in charge. So I eventually leaned back, looked at the party, reveled in memories and simply enjoyed the time spent together. 🥰

Christof Wiedemair

PS: This pub meet-up won't be the last one. If you were a member of astrocusanus once but haven't been invited, I sincerely apologize and ask you to reach out to me. Unfortunately, not all former members made it into my WhatsApp broadcast list.