Category

Observing with an Overseas Telescope

Introduction

Taking advantage of global time zones, we can observe the night sky in the daytime

　We would like to show our class the night sky! However, this is not easy. School classes are during the day, and setting up a special class in the evening will be a practical problem, and even a safety concern.
　To get around this problem, the Starry Sky Observing Network proposed a series of learning activities making use of an overseas internet telescope. It is a method of observing the starry sky night sky which is even suitable for people with physical disabilities.

Internet Telescope

Why use an Internet Telescope?

When you think of "observing the stars with a telescope", you might imagine looking through a telescope and exploring the night sky. If you observe the planet Saturn twinkling in the night sky through a telescope, you will see its rings, and might be particularly moved by the wonderful sight. However, observing has numerous problems:

• The stars and planets are only visible at night
  
• It is not possible to observe during bad weather
  
• The night is cold in winter
  
• It is difficult to transport a large telescope to an observing site
  
• It may be difficult to travel a long distance to the observatory
  

　All these problems can be solved by using an internet telescope.
　The internet telescope and camera can be connected to a personal computer anywhere in the world via the internet, and then the telescope and camera can be operated remotely.
　When you have selected a particular astronomical object, you send your request to the telescope and it moves to the appropriate part of the sky and takes an image using the camera.
　Thus, returning to the above problems:

• Stars only visible at night------Using telescope in foreign country, stars visible even at noon!!
  
• Objects not visible if bad weather------Use telescope in place with good weather!!
  
• Observing is cold in winter---------Observe from computer in warm house!!
  
• Difficult to move heavy telescope----Just need computer connected to internet!!
  
• Difficulty of travel to observatory----No need to travel, just sit at computer!!
  

　Problems solved!
　The internet telescope is an astronomical observing tool which can be used at any convenient time and location.

Example of Overseas Telescope

　Here is an example of an Overseas Internet Telescope we have used

Arnie Rosner Enterprises "Rent-a-scope"

　Arnie Rosner Enterprises Homepage

　Arnie Rosner Enterprises is an internet observatory based in Arizona, USA
Arizona state is on Mountain Time, GMT -7hrs (Latitude 31d 55' 42" N, Longitude 110d 4' 24" W, Elevation 1510m). The telescopes may be operated remotely via the internet.
It costs US$50 per hour to use the observatory (as of 2002).

　The astronomical telescope and cooled CCD camera are connected to a personal computer which acts as a server, and this is connected to Internet.
　The server controls the operation of the astronomical telescope, the settings of the CCD camera, the process of image acquisition, and the status of the final image, all using the local network.
To operate the telescope from a remote site you simply need to connect to the internet, which can be done even by people in far-flung corners of the world. Furthermore, the the only operating software a remote user requires is a web browser.
　Three telescopes are set up at the observatory, and two of these may be operated remotely via the internet.
　The telescope and CCD camera are connected via cable to the server computer, and this is connected to Internet.

Arnie Rosner Enterprises complete telescope system	Takahashi model refractor (150 FCT Paramount GT1100s)	SBIG社の冷却CCDカメラ 「ST8E w/CFW-8」

Operating Procedure

　To actually operate one of the telescopes, the remote user needs to access the website of Arnie Rosner Enterprises.
http://www.arnierosner.com/
　The remote user will have to enter their username and password to access the site.
　The telescopes are normally operated on a first come, first served basis. If a user has a particular reason to observe at a specific time, they will need to reserve in advance, usually via e-mail.

User Interface of the Internet telescope system in Arizona

　"Target Name": Name of celestial object to be observed (e.g. M42);
　"Deep Sky Lookup": Clicking on this displays the the right ascension and declination (i.e. the position on the sky) of the target;
　"Duration (Exposure Time)": It is necessary to adjust this depending on the brightness of the object;
　"Binning": This allows you to adjust the picture quality;
　 "Acquire image": Selecting this option allows you to obtain your picture.

Sample images acquired

Horse head nebula in Orion (IC434)	Great Nebula in Orion (M42)

　As you can see, the pictures above are grey scale only. In addition, as of 2002, this system is limited to the observation of deep-sky objects such as star clusters and nebulae, and cannot observe solar system objects such as the Moon and planets.