Six interactive gift ideas for hobby astronomers

Astronomy-themed notebooks or globes of our planets. Great gifts that come to life with the help of your smartphone.

Augmented reality – for many people this may be a strange term that sounds very futuristic. But behind it is state-of-the-art technology which is no longer a futuristic dream, but a reality; AstroReality.

Augmented reality is the technology-driven extension of our perception, which primarily concerns the creation and display of additional visual information through images or videos.

It is also the name of a company which enables us to experience the Moon and the planets, thanks to an innovative idea. AstroReality is located close to the world-famous Silicon Valley, the high-tech melting pot to the southeast of San Francisco.

Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, AstroReality offers great gadgets for amateur astronomers or the whole family alike – small worlds of adventure and great Christmas gifts!

We would like to share some of these gift ideas with you here.

A Mars opposition occurs every two years; we just experienced one recently. This is a great Christmas present for those who want to have the Red Planet as a decorative object in the home, and to be able to examine it in more detail.

The planet will be a real eye-catcher on your desk or in a display case, thanks to its true-to-life design. With the augmented reality app on your smartphone, you can then take a journey across the planet's surface, and see many details and formations.

Our Moon also has its place at AstroReality. It is available in four different sizes and designs. The LUNAR Mini version is mounted on an attractive base and offers you the same interactive smartphone or tablet augmented reality function as the Mars globe. Explore lunar craters and learn interesting things about our satellite’s mountain ranges and plains. Your children too will be fascinated by this lunar experience.

Pluto was once considered the ninth planet in our solar system. A billion kilometres away, it is in the outermost orbit around the Sun. In 2006, however, its status as a planet was downgraded by international agreement and Pluto has since become a somewhat forgotten desert of ice in the so-called Kuiper belt. Experience this mysterious world through the augmented reality app and the PLUTO relief globe from AstroReality!

With this 3-D footprint from the surface of the Moon, you have an attractive accessory that will give you and your guests information about the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and the first time that man set foot on the Moon. Be taken back in time, and the Moon landing becomes a very personal experience!

AstroReality's notebooks, with their themes of the planets Mars, Jupiter, Earth and our Moon, look cool. But best of all: with the accompanying app, you can also get a lot of information about each celestial body. These notebooks have plenty of space for your ideas, are an observing logbook for amateur astronomers, a helpful accessory at school or university, as well as a stylish, practical small gift with bookmark, document bag and elastic.

In addition to the items mentioned above, once you have completed your own exploration of our solar system with the relief globes, the Universe2go from Omegon is ready to take you on a journey across the real night sky. This handheld planetarium is another product featuring innovative augmented reality technology.

As a hobby astronomer, in the comfort of your own home, you can widen your appreciation of the night sky and thrill your family with the allure of space!

Jan is a linguist and product manager for our astronomy products.

Jan studied English, Romance languages and business administration and then worked as an account manager in the aviation industry. Since he was young, he has been interested in natural sciences, especially astronomy: at the age of 15, he made his first observations with a Newtonian telescope from his parents' balcony.

Jan loves the great outdoors, and besides astronomy, he is also interested in animals and meteorology. His favourite objects in the sky are the big planets, Wolf-Rayet nebulae and globular clusters.

Languages: German, English, Spanish