Observatory Overview

Hardware Systems

• CDK 17

  The telescope. A 17 inch corrected dahl-kirkham with built in motorized focuser.

• Astro-Physics GT0 3600

  A German Equatorial mount responsible for sub arcsecond positioning and precise tracking of the telescope for astronomical imaging.

• Ash Dome with ACE automation

16 ft dome with full automation kit allowing remote dome control.

• SBIG STL 11000 camera with 8 position filter wheel

The primary imaging camera

• Light Controller

Provides computer access to the parking lights on the top of the ramp.

Software Systems

• ACP

  Main observatory control program. Orchestrates telescope pointing, dome positioning, and image acquisition. Also provides the web front end as well as automation scripting capabilities.

• Scheduler

  Primary component for unattended observatory operation. Reads observation requests from the schedule data base and dispatches them to ACP for data acquisition. Commands ACP to perform observatory startup, shutdown, and image acquisition.

• MaximDL

  Interface to the camera. ACP sends all imaging requests through MaximDL. MaximDL can also be used for direct manual control of the camera.

• FocusMax

  Automatically focuses the telescope upon request. ACP sends autofocus requests to FocusMax.

• Clarity II

  Monitors the weather station. ACP communicates with Clarity II for current weather conditions.

• ACE SmartDome

  Controls the Dome. ACP sends dome commands to SmartDome.

• Starry Night

  Planetarium program used to choose targets and point the telescope during manual opration.

• LightControl.py

  Simple interface to communicates with the light controller. Launch the program to command the light controller to hold the lights off.