A Remotely Controlled and Robotic Observatory

Mark S. Sonntag
Department of Physics; Angelo State University
San Angelo, Texas; mark.sonntag@angelo.edu
http://quark.angelo.edu/~msonntag/asuastronomy/astronomyatasu.htm

HISTORY AND FUNDING

The remotely controlled observatory project began in 1992 as a preliminary
study to access the feasibility of building a robotic telescope facility. At that time remotely controlled and robotic telescopes were relatively rare, custom built designs. Because of the high cost, funding was not sought at that time, but he project was tabled for future consideration.

In 1996 the project was reborn. During the intervening years, costs had come down and "off the shelf" equipment became available. A National Science Foundation grant proposal was written and submitted. The Angelo State University Remotely Controlled Observatory was awarded funding in 1997 through a matching grant from NSF (Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement, Grant: DUE-9751737).

LOCATION

The Angelo State University remotely controlled observatory is located in Irion County, Texas, approximately 20 miles west of San Angelo. This location has a very dark south and west exposure. The lights of San Angelo are visible in the east.

>pcAnywhere.

DOME WIZARD

Dome Wizard is dome control software produced by Technical Innovations, Inc. This software allows shutter and dome rotation control, including a slaving of the azimuth of the shutter to that of the telescope. It also includes a weather station giving temperature, wind speed and direction, moisture and snow sensors.

THESKY

TheSky software (Software Bisque) provides complete telescope pointing control. It drives the Paramount 1100 mount to the celestial object specified.

TPOINT

TPoint software (Software Bisque) when used in conjunction with TheSky produces an accurate telescope pointing analysis to understand and compensate for various telescope misalignments. It is capable of producing pointing accuracy to within one arc-minute.

CCDSOFT

CCDSoft controls the operation of the ST-7 CCD camera and filter wheel. It also includes image processing software.

ORCHESTRATE

Orchestrate is scripting software that allows automated control of the telescope and CCD camera. Orchestrate can serve to control the observatory robotically.


SSP-7 CONTROL

The SSP-7 Control software controls all functions of the SSP-7 photometer.

HOME DIRECTOR

Home Director is IBM software that controls dimming of lights and on/off control of home appliances. It is being used in this application to control observatory lighting and on/off control of the telescope mount, CCD camera, and photometer.


PLANNED USES

RESEARCH

Research projects will be completed by both faculty and students. Most of the anticipated activity will be done with the SSP-7 photometer. Current projects include: