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Real Time Observing with the Faulkes Telescope-North. James Bedient Faulkes Telescope Workshop Maui Community College February 26, 2005. Faulkes Telescope-North. 2-m Ritchey-Chretien telescope Haleakala, Maui, Hawai’i Robotic, remotely operated Largest telescope for educational use.
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Real Time Observing with the Faulkes Telescope-North James Bedient Faulkes Telescope Workshop Maui Community College February 26, 2005
Faulkes Telescope-North • 2-m Ritchey-Chretien telescope • Haleakala, Maui, Hawai’i • Robotic, remotely operated • Largest telescope for educational use
Real Time Observing • Teachers/students log in via web browser • Directly control telescope • Control pointing, camera • Control exposures and filters • Decide when an observation is complete • Slew to next object
Introduction to the Interface • Web address: http://kilo.ifa.hawaii.edu • You must obtain a user name/password from Bill Giebink, giebink@ifa.hawaii.edu
Status Page • Telescope Open/Closed • Notes from Bill • Weather information • Other sources of summit conditions are on the Mees site: http://koa.ifa.hawaii.edu/ and include the Crater Cam and weather conditions
Sky Map Page • 180 degree view of current sky • Select Guided Tour • Search/Browse • or Enter RA/Dec • I will show the RA/Dec mode
Enter RA/Dec • Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec) are entered separately • RA must be in the form 08:34:45 – note use of colons to separate h:m:s • Dec in the form (-)21:34:22 – note no plus for positive, minus only if south of celestial equator, colons separating d:m:s
Narrow-view map page • Shows camera field of view (FOV) on sky map • Verify no bright stars in the field! • Shows Altitude and Azimuth of field, distance from moon • When you’re ready, click on “Move Now” • Watch it move on the webcam!
Camera Control Page • Select filters: u’, B, V, r’, i’, other specialized filters • Enter exposure time • Click on “Make Observation” to go!
Exposure Progress Page • Shows position, exposure, filters, download time (45 sec) • Progress bar gives a relative indication of time remaining • There’s also a cancel button in case of an error
Result Page • jpg thumbnail of your image • Evaluate pointing, tracking, exposure, signal/noise of image • Select re-expose or new object
Image Page • When session is complete, or anytime you log in, you can visit your list of images • Thumbnails, object name if known, date, time • Thumbnails are clickable
Image Pop-up • Click on a thumbnail to get a pop-up that will allow you to download the full-sized images • Will also allow some limited trimming of jpg images
Get FITS Images • In IE, right-click the FITS Data File link, and select “Save Target as…” • In Firefox, right-click the FITS Data File link, and select “Save Link as…” • Save the file to your local hard-drive. • Files may be downloaded multiple times
Contacts and Web Sites • Jim Bedient – bedient@hawaii.edu • Mary Ann Kadooka – kadooka@ifa.hawaii.edu • Bill Giebink – giebink@ifa.hawaii.edu • FTN website – http://kilo.ifa.hawaii.edu • Mees Observatory – http://koa.ifa.hawaii.edu/ • Concam – http://nightskylive.net/hl/