The University of Alabama Observatory -

New Visions

April 2005

Out with the old…

In with the new

The new: 16-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescopePointing, tracking, focus all under computer controlSupports: visual use digital cameras 35mm photography webcam imaging CCD imaging video

We have a control room:

We have a control room:

Telescope controlsystem and displays

We have a control room:

Telescope controlsystem and displays

Auxiliary computer(electronic imagingand data transfer)

We have a control room:

Telescope controlsystem and displays

Auxiliary computer(electronic imagingand data transfer)

Live video fromguide scope

We have a control room:

Telescope controlsystem and displays

Auxiliary computer(electronic imagingand data transfer)

Live video fromguide scope

My laptop with favoritesky-mapping software

Stimulant fluid

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

• 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 CCDcamera’s first clear night…

Guidescope video system

Santa Barbara InstrumentsGroup 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 supernovaexplosion observed in AD 1054)(16-minute exposure)

Crab Nebula (remnant of supernovaexplosion observed in AD 1054)(16-minute exposure)

Pulsar – neutron star rotating 30 times/second

Globular star cluster Messier 3Distance 34,000 light-years(12-minute exposure)

Spiral galaxies NGC 3623 and 3627 in LeoDistance 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)

Spiral galaxy NGC 3079(50 million light-years)

Quasar at 8 billion light-years,with image split by space curvature from intervening galaxy

Logistics improvements:

• 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…

• 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