Virtualizing Astronomical Heritage: A Virtual Reality-based Digital Model of a Large-Scale Historic Telescope

Traditional astronomical heritage preservation often relies on static exhibits, leaving visitors to attend the tour’s narrative passively. This paper introduces a Virtual Reality (VR) Digital Model (DM) of the historic Ruths telescope. Designed to overcome the geographical and meteorological limitations of physical observatories, it empowers visitors to experiment with a simulation-driven virtual replica in the same way as the real counterpart. By combining an immersive virtual environment with a simplified backend and physical prototype, we transform a complex mechanical instrument into an interactive educational resource. This approach shifts the focus of digital cultural heritage preservation from passive observation to active engagement, enabling audiences to safely operate and understand the functioning of complex historical machinery while preserving the integrity of the original asset.