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Room at the top for the MegaWedge When the Isaac Newton Group (ING) on La Palma in the Canary islands needed a top performing telescope and mounting for their new robotic seeing monitor project, they selected the Meade 12" LX200 telescope and our MegaWedge equatorial mounting system. The project, recently completed, is called RoboDIMM and is housed in an Astrohaven clamshell dome just a few meters away from the giant dome that houses the 4.5metre William Herschel telescope (WHT). DIMM stands for Differential Image Motion Monitor and is a system designed to make precise and reliable seeing measurements. In the RoboDIMM implementation of this idea a four-hole mask (similar to our three-hole Focus Master) with deflection prisms fitted over each hole has been fitted to a MegaWedge-mounted Meade 12" LX200. A CCD camera acquires multiple star images and this data is processed and analysed to generate a reliable seeing measurement. The system is fully robotic and is operated by technicians in the WHT control room. Operations at the WHT have led to a demand for such a system. The need to maximise the performance from the adaptive optics systems employed at the observatory has led to a robotically-operated seeing monitor, so that observing time can be efficiently managed. The MegaWedge is a high-performance equatorial wedge mounting system for all Meade LX, LX200 Classic and LX200 GPS telescope systems. Manufactured in heavy steel plate, the MegaWedge has a rigid anti-vibration design that offers a world-class standard of mounting stability for the Meade range of research-quality telescopes. A standard we are proud to say is now endorsed by the most prestigious astronomy research centre in Europe.
To find out more about the ING RoboDIMM project on La Palma visit:
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Click on the image above
Click on the image above
Click on the image above |
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Exploding Star hunter relies on the best As one of the world’s most prolific and successful supernova hunters, amateur astronomer Mark Armstrong trusts Astro Engineering equipment to help him get top performance out of his telescopes. Since starting out in 1996 Mark has discovered and captured nearly 50 supernovas from his garden observatory in Kent in the south of the UK. Despite his amateur status, Mark is highly respected as a leading expert in his field. Employing nothing but the most sophisticated equipment and software available, he has perfected the technique of automated imaging of large numbers of distant galaxies that are then analysed for exploding stars. His three Celestron 14” SCT OTA scopes are all mounted on fully robotic Paramount ME mountings, and his images are recorded using high-performance computer-controlled CCD cameras. “I use Astro Engineering’s rigid dew-shield on all three of my scopes and it is an excellent piece of kit,” Mark says when asked about his favourite Astro Engineering accessory in the whole range. He continues: “Amateur astronomers are fortunate to have such an extensive range of unique accessories at their fingertips.” Mark’s supernova images are vital to research astronomers for drawing conclusions about the nature and behaviour of distant stars and galaxies. More information about Mark and his work is available via the British Astronomical Association,
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Mark Armstrong and one of his three 14" Celestrons Click on the image above |
