Transcript UA 16-inch telescope - UA Astronomy

The University of Alabama Observatory -
New Visions
April 2005
Out with the old…
In with the new
The new: 16-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope
Pointing, tracking, focus all
under computer control
Supports: visual use
digital cameras
35mm photography
webcam imaging
CCD imaging
video
We have a control room:
We have a control room:
Telescope control
system and displays
We have a control room:
Auxiliary computer
(electronic imaging
and data transfer)
Telescope control
system and displays
We have a control room:
Auxiliary computer
(electronic imaging
and data transfer)
Telescope control
system and displays
Live video from
guide scope
We have a control room:
Auxiliary computer
(electronic imaging
and data transfer)
Telescope control
system and displays
Stimulant
fluid
My laptop with favorite
sky-mapping software
Live video from
guide scope
Eyeball use:
64-550X eyepieces
35mm photography – lunar sunrise
Lunar crescent with consumer digital camera
Webcam imagery
(lunar shots from AY 203 students)
SBIG CCD features
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Sensitivity: near-UV to near-IR
Field of view 20x30 arcminutes
Thermoelectric cooling to below –30 C
2000x3000 pixel format, samples even our
best image quality
• Fast 18-sec frame readout
CCD field of view
Some sample images from the CCD
camera’s first clear night…
Guidescope video system
Santa Barbara Instruments
Group CCD imager
Trail of Hubble Space Telescope
(range 780 km = 490 miles,
above Gulf of Mexico)
Comet Machholz, 2 April 2005
(165 million km from Earth,
240 million from Sun. (4 minutes)
Open star cluster Messier 37 (4 minutes)
Crab Nebula (remnant of supernova
explosion observed in AD 1054)
(16-minute exposure)
Crab Nebula (remnant of supernova
explosion observed in AD 1054)
(16-minute exposure)
Pulsar – neutron
star rotating 30
times/second
Globular star cluster Messier 3
Distance 34,000 light-years
(12-minute exposure)
Spiral galaxies NGC 3623 and 3627 in Leo
Distance 40 million light-years
(12-minute exposure)
3C 273, the brightest quasar
(1.8 billion light-years)
Spiral galaxy NGC 3079
(50 million light-years)
Quasar at 8 billion light-years,
with image split by space curvature
from intervening galaxy
Spiral galaxy NGC 3079
(50 million light-years)
Logistics improvements:
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New electrical wiring
Caulked/sealed dome
Stair/catwalk lighting
Removed old rolling stairs
Portable telescopes on wheels
Landing into control room
The work is still in progress…
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Mitigation of building vibrations
Continue safety/accessibility improvements
Possible floor raising
Implement automatic telescope guiding
Automate dome rotation
Special thanks to:
• Dean Robert Olin, chair Stan Jones for
bankrolling the project
• Department shop personnel (Danny
Whitcomb, Tom Hunter, Jason Taylor,
David Key)
• Carol Smith (Purchasing)
• Jane Boyd for cleaning up the paperwork