Aberystwyth University
Institute of Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Robotic Telescope Project
Steve Fearn standing next
to a robotic telescope
Our interest lies not just in what astronomical science that can be achieved with these instruments but also in developing innovative automatic software to:
1) Schedule observations and coordinate the telescopes and instrumentation
2) Target the telescopes onto objects
3) Monitor the sky for cloud and reschedule observations if the area of the sky containing a target object is cloud covered – switch to a backup observation
4) Stack and filter images spatially and temporally to optimise angular resolution and sensitivity
5) Data mine images for detecting star variability, asteroids, comets etc
6) Remote sensing, mosaicing and high resolution imaging of the Moon and planets
7) Output images to a dynamic web site for observers to down-load their observations
8) Data mine the internet for new discoveries and enter these objects into the observing schedule automatically
9) Network the telescopes to each other so that they can observe objects simultaneously through different filters
10) Automated meteor and aurora detection using sky cameras
11) Automated low resolution spectroscopy and polarimetry of point like sources
12) Maintaining the interior of the observatories in a clean and neat state using a remotely controlled robotic arm
13) Search for meteorite impact flashes on the Moon
14) Serendipitous imaging of wildlife
We are using two robotic telescopes that were formerly owned and operated by the School of Computer Science at Nottingham University and some of the images below are from this era.
Example Images Captured so
far:
Comet McNaught (2006/P1) imaged in white light just 2.2 deg above
the western horizon at 17:06 UT on 2007 Jan 10 using a Meade 10” robotic
telescope. Watec 902H black and white CCTV camera used. Centre image
is a 1/25th sec exposure. To the left is a non-linear
contrast stretch to bring out brightness variations in the tail. To the right
is a high pass filtered version to bring out details near the central bright
coma. Video of the comet was captured for 4 minutes before it set behind a
tree. This is one of the brightest comets seen in many years and it is just
about bright enough to be seen in daylight!
2006 Sep 12
a colour (enhanced) image of the Moon taken through Blue, Visible and IR light
at UT 23:12. You may have thought that the Moon was a boring shade of grey,
well, with the right equipment and filters your will see that it is quite a
colourful place. In this image some of the craters (Aristarchus, Kepler and Copernicus) are saturated but you can see
colours in the rays and mare areas elsewhere. The exterior of Aristarchus (top)
has a bluish cast with a purple/violet halo – a rectangular area adjacent to
the crater has a distinct dark brown colour and is a volcanic plateau region.
The exteriors of Kepler and Copernicus (bottom) by
contrast are more pinkish in colour. The colour enhancement involves
normalising the 3 colour bands to each other and then boosting the colour
saturation. ATK-16 CCD camera used – atmospheric seeing none
too good.
2006 Sep 15 day light
observation of the Moon in the I (near Infrared) waveband with a distorted
aircraft vapour trail passing across – the vertical raster stripes are due to
electrical interference from the image being nearly saturated with light under
day light conditions. ATK-16 CCD camera used. Atmospheric conditions were
blurry as there were a lot of thermal air currents from the heat of the Sun.
First light for a deep
sky object using Robotic Telescope No. 1 on 2006 Sep 09. A short 20 sec white light exposure of M27, the Dumbell Nebula under nearly “Full Moon” glare conditions –
using the Celestron-mounted ATK-16 CCD camera with no
filter and no dark current removal. Magnitude V=17 stars are just detectable.
A short 5 second exposure of the “Ring Nebula” (M57) in Lyra in white light taken on the morning of 2006 Sep 21st.
Note the faint 15th magnitude star in the centre.
A 20 sec exposure of the centre of the Andromeda Galaxy,
M31 – no spiral visible here as we are looking too close to the centre. Taken in white light on the morning of
2006 Sep 21st.
A 10 sec exposure (each for the blues, visible and infrared
filters used) colour image of the Orion Nebula, M42. The blue filter image
appears in the blue channel, the visible light image in the green channel and
the infrared image in the red channel. The apparently red stars in the image
above are stars that have been born within the nebula and we see them only
because their infrared light can escape through the normally opaque nebula. Image taken on the morning of 2006 Sep 21st.
No
this is not after the telescope operator had consumed some alcohol whilst
looking at M57, but with the diffraction grating in place in the filter wheel
of the Celestron telescope! This is a first attempt
image (2006 Sep 26) at some crude spectroscopy and shows clearly that gaseous
emission objects such as M57 emit light at specific wavelengths, whilst hot
objects such as stars emit continuous spectra. There is a vignetting
effect (some parts of the image get more light than
others) present that we may have to find a work around. Neverthless
it should be useful for studying nebulous objects and general emission profiles
of stars.
Equipment:
We have two telescopes:
1)
Robotic Telescope Dome No. 1 - Celestron CPC-1100 - 11" diameter, 2800mm Focal length
F/10 – from David Hinds Ltd.
Telescope mounted cameras and
equipment:
a) 90 deg FOV monochrome
CCTV camera mounted on front of scope for checking dome open and closes and for
sky conditions. Used for getting alignment stars into the 10deg FOV camera and
could be useful for meteor detection
b)
~10 deg FOV monochrome CCTV camera for
getting alignment stars into the telescope CCD FOV
c)
Meade colour LPI imager on the finder scope.
d)
Watec 902H low
light sensitive PAL CCTV camera mounted on the back end of the telescope - idea
for lunar occultation work, hi-res planetary imaging, looking for impact
flashes on the Moon and probably capable of videoing stars down to mag 10, and maybe mag 12 with TV
frame integration.
e)
True Technology Filter wheel – filters
(Schuler):
1.
700 nm (Ar) – FWHM
of 10 nm
2.
Grating 70 line/mm diffraction grating
(Edmund Optics) for low resolution spectroscopy
3.
I-band
4.
R-band
5.
B-band
6.
490 nm - FWHM of 10 nm
7.
U-band
8.
Clear
f)
Robo-FocusTM
from Technical Innovations
There are
also some floor mounted cameras:
a) SXV-H9 Star-light Express integrating
CCD camera - 1392x1040 pixels used as a zenith scope and can take ~10 sec
exposures through a 50mm lens for circumpolar ring sky surveys in white light.
This can operate at the same time as the telescope, providing the scope is
pointing roughly south through a gap between the dome and the scope.
b) ~90 deg FOV CCTV camera to monitor the telescope and cables
c) A colour Philips ToUcam PRO-II USB camera to monitor the other side of the telescope
2) Robotic Telescope Dome No. 2 - Meade LX200GPS - 10" diameter telescope, F/10 – from Telescope House
Telescope mounted cameras and equipment:
a)
90 deg FOV monochrome
CCTV camera mounted on front of scope for checking dome open and closes and for
sky conditions. Used for getting alignment stars into the 10deg FOV camera and
could be useful for meteor detection
b)
~10 deg FOV monochrome CCTV camera for
getting alignment stars into the telescope CCD FOV
c)
Meade colour LPI imager on the finder scope.
d)
Watec 902H low
light sensitive PAL CCTV camera mounted on the back end of the telescope - idea
for lunar occultation work, hi-res planetary imaging, looking for impact
flashes on the Moon and probably capable of videoing stars down to mag 10, and maybe mag 12 with TV
frame integration.
e)
True Technology filter wheel – filters (from
Edmund Optics):
i.
Clear
ii.
Polaroid-horizontal
iii.
Polaroid-vertical
iv.
589 nm (Na) - FWHM of 10 nm
v.
656 nm (H) - FWHM of 10 nm
vi.
730 nm (CH4) - FWHM of 10 nm
vii.
855 nm (Rn) - FWHM
of 10 nm
viii.
dark field.
f)
Robo-FocusTM
from Technical Innovations
There are
also some floor mounted cameras:
a) Meade Deep Sky imager zenith camera. This can take ~10 sec exposures through a ~50mm lens for circumpolar colour ring sky surveys in white light. This can operate at the same time as the telescope, providing the scope is pointing roughly south through a gap between the dome and the scope.
b) A ~60 deg FOV colour CCTV camera EXTERNAL to the dome to view sky conditions before opening the dome up
c) A colour Philips ToUcam PRO-II USB camera to monitor the telescope
For further details contact:
Dr Anthony Cook
Institute of Maths and Physical Sciences
University of Aberystwth
Email: atc @ aber.ac.uk
Home Page:
The
information provided on this and other pages by me, Tony Cook (a t c @ a b e r . a c . u k), is under my
own personal responsibility and not that of the
Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
The University of Aberystwyth