Are telescopes legal to use on your balcony?

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
I want to buy a telescope because my apartment is awesome and has a nice view of the lake and beyond and I have always wanted to own one, and I see the moon in the clear sky almost daily and really want to have a telescope.

But if I put it on the balcony, since there are so many apartments in front of me (our building is tallest) I'm afraid someone would call the cops assuming I am looking at them.

I understand some creepy people would use it for such purpose and there is a reason to be wary but overall, I am not sure if it is okay to have one, if I live in a crowded environment.

2
It is what you use it for what could make it illegal, as long as you watch planets instead of tits there is no problem.

3
But then again how would one go about proving what is actually being looked at?

4
Get rid of all the smut on your computer and buy some astronomy books.

5
Nothing wrong with the odd blue, yellow tit.

6
I would not worry. The magnification of astronomy telescopes are to high to be useful for being a perv.

For that purpose I suggest binoculars.

7
You have to be caught in the act.

8
I can’t think of any disposition in the penal code criminalising such behaviour. Equipping it with a camera might be different, but I know of quite a lot of people who have telescopes or binoculars on their balconies.

9
I've occasionally thought about getting a telescope for our balcony as I'm interested in astronomy, but I've always considered the opportunity to spy on my neighbours -- the more distant ones -- as a fringe benefit, particularly when the sky is cloudy.

10
Just don't point it across the courtyard to your neighbor's windows...with a camera attached.

11
How?

12
By another person with a telescope and a camera obviously. They get you, you get them and you can call it even.

13

14
But I don't see how it is possible to see what the person with the camera/telescope is actually looking at/filming.

15
Slight derail, but OP would you mind posting what telescope you decide to buy? I have no clue about telescopes, but I also recently got the urge to look at the night sky.

16
Art. 179quater Swiss Criminal Code.

Breach of secrecy or privacy through the use of an image-carrying device

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...tml#a179quater

=> requires recording capability.

Art. 179sexies Swiss Criminal Code.

Marketing and promotion of devices for unlawful listening or sound or image recording

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...083/index.html

=> again requires recording capability and it remains unclear what type of devices are actually covered(in principle it is aimed at spy stuff such as bugs, etc.)

However, the simple voyeur (who does not record anything) would not breach the Swiss Criminal Code (cf. also this article https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentr...nicht-ld.57830 ).

17
All astronomers I know (well, that's only two) have cameras attached to their telescopes, or at least have the means of attaching them.

Claiming to have seen this or that comet is one thing, having the picture (however blurry) to prove it is something entirely different.

18
I would have been very surprised if it were illegal as starring at people seems to be a national past time here.

Thanks for the links.

19
But telescopes are slightly more difficult to hide than the more geeky spy camera stuff... so probably will not run afoul of Art. 179sexies...

20
I have a refractor telescope that I use in my apartment / on balcony. The last few weeks have been awesome for looking at Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the moon. Seeing saturns rings and jupiters moons was really amazing. I don't have any camera attached.

I would personally recommend going for a reflector telescope. They have much higher aperture for the same price (don't need a big glass lens, they use mirrors) and this will allow you to not only see our solar system but also galaxies, nebulae, etc. which are much less bright (you'll need to go to a dark place though if you live in a town/city).

Also - reflectors turn the image upside-down, which means they're no good for terrestrial spying - so you won't have to worry about being accused of being a pervert