Explore the universe
Astronomy
From our Solar System to distant galaxies: discover the connections behind the sights in the night sky.
Explore the Universe
Astronomy opens a window onto our solar system, distant stars, galaxies and the larger structure of the universe. On Foto-Gorilla, you’ll find clear explanations, observing tips and practical information about celestial events, constellations, deep-sky objects and our solar system.
Solar System
Discover the Sun, planets, moons and other objects in our solar system – with clear explanations, observing tips and fascinating facts.
Deep Sky
Discover nebulae, star clusters and distant galaxies – with observing tips, background information and guidance for astrophotography.
Constellations
Learn about the best-known constellations, find them in the night sky and discover their most important stars and distinctive features.
Celestial Events
Don’t miss special events in the sky – from eclipses and planetary conjunctions to meteor showers and other observing highlights.
Astronomy connects people around the world
A worldwide community
The IAU working group on professional–amateur relations estimates the worldwide amateur astronomy community to be of the order of one million people. This is a rough estimate, not a comprehensive census.
Professionals and amateurs
IAU membership figures describe membership of a scientific organisation. They are not a complete count of professional astronomers worldwide. These figures therefore do not establish a reliable global ratio of professionals to amateurs.
Germany’s astronomy community
The Vereinigung der Sternfreunde reports more than 4,000 members and describes itself as the largest nationwide astronomy interest association in the German-speaking region. Its membership is not a count of all amateur astronomers in Germany.
A worldwide ranking of countries would require comparable national surveys using the same definition and reference year. The sources used here do not provide that dataset, so we do not present a supposedly precise top ten.
Sources: IAU – Professional-Amateur Relations · IAU – archived membership statistics · Vereinigung der Sternfreunde