The Virgin Islands
Robotic Telescope
James E. Neff
College of Charleston
&
David Morris
University of the Virgin Islands
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Advantages of Virgin Islands Site
• Latitude (18o North): permits coverage of
northern and southern sky
• Longitude (65o West): fills “gap” between US
and Europe
• Stable atmospheric conditions: superb seeing
(typically ~ 1”)
• Predictable conditions: clear for at least a few
hours every night
• Infrastructure and University support
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Latitude 18o N
Longitude 65o W
Elevation 420 m
Also in the neighborhood: Arecibo (Puerto Rico) and VLBA (St. Croix)
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Unique Challenges
• It’s in the tropics: clouds, rain, humidity
• St. Thomas is fairly remote and expensive
(everything must be shipped/flown in)
• Local culture is challenging to work within
required reading:
“Don’t Stop the Carnival”
by Herman Wouk
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
TELESCOPE
0.5m f/10 Cassegrain
Equatorial (long) fork
Robotic/Remote/Manual
Torus Precision Optics
(Optical Mechanics, Inc.)
• ~10 custom scopes in field
• “turn- key” observatory design
• Rigel project (Robert Mutel)
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Filter Wheel + CCD
12 position Torus filter wheel
UBVRI ND TiO filters
Finger Lakes Instruments camera
thermo-electrically cooled
Marconi 42-40 CCD
2048 x 2048
20 x 20 arc-min fov
13.5 m (0.5 arc-sec) pixels
back-illuminated; mid-band coated
USB controlled
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Dome
“Hurricane-hardened”
5-meter Ash dome
External Inputs
Two Weather Stations:
Davis (integrated, real-time)
Campbell (on tower, 2 minute)
GPS receiver, Web Cams
Microwave Internet Connection
& wireless LAN in observatory
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Observatory Infrastructure
roads, power, water
dormitory & apartment
telecommunications support
auxiliary generator; UPS
Telescope control room
2 linux pc’s; 1 mac laptop
air conditioning!
classroom & conference room
public viewing area
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Control System: hardware
• 5-axis: RA, DEC, focus, filter, dome
– each axis includes servo motor, home
and limit switches, CSIMC board,
amplifier, and ethernet port
• RA and DEC encoders --> 0.1 arc-sec
resolution
• one serial cable to computer controls
everything!
• no handpaddle: use virtual paddle on
laptop pc
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Control System: software
• Talon (formerly OCAAS)
– unix and x-windows based
– written by Elwood Downey, Clear Sky Institute
– now open source
• for remote operations, use x-windows or vnc
connection to Talon computer
• includes various command line tools for scheduling,
planning, engineering, data analysis, etc.
• TELSCHED, XOBS, CAMERA, XEPHEM
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Brief History and Status
M42
(1 sec exposure)
4th SONG WORKSHOP
• Installation and First Light:
November 03 – January 04
• Dome automation July 04
• Fully operational, but not
safe to run unattended:
August 08
• Developed and tested GCN
triggers for GRB afterglows
• Engineering runs and student
projects; Public outreach
• Now it is overdue for mirror
re-coating and some needed
refurbishments
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Don’t Stop the Carnival
• Murphy: “Everything that can go wrong will.”
• Island Corollary #1: “Even things that can’t ...”
• Corollary #2: “But somehow everything will work
out OK in the end, and we will have a great time
doing it!”
• Our long series of “disasters” is now over...
1. Business...
2. Nature...
3. Engineering...
4. Political and Legal...
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Initial Science Operations
• Continue detailed “micro-climate” studies, and h/w
and s/w improvements to improve our weather
triggering algorithms
• GRB optical counterparts
• Narrow-band photometry to measure starspot area
and temperature on active stars in clusters (Neff)
• We are open to New Ideas and New Collaborations
– SSON (Sierra Stars Observatory Network)
– mini-SONG !!
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
Sierra Stars
Observatory Network
originally all OMI
telescopes, which are easily
networked (by design)
expanding to other
telescopes; both hemispheres
private company, but very
flexible way to partially
finance a small observatory
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
“4-College” Automated
Photometric Telescope
located at...
Fairborn Observatory
Washington Camp, AZ
operated by...
College of Charleston
The Citadel
Villanova University
Univ. Nevada Las Vegas
0.75m + filters + photometer
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011
For more information, see
astro.uvi.edu
or contact:
Prof. James E. Neff
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
843-953-5325
neffj@cofc.edu
http://neffj.people.cofc.edu/
4th SONG WORKSHOP
Charleston, SC
15-20 Sep 2011