The images presented within the gallery are from a variety of astronomical instruments. There is no such instrument that suits all possible targets, thus its a matter of choosing the right instrument for the desired visual impact. The instrument alone does not produce fantastic and memorable images. The work in planning, execution of data acquisition and post processing greatly influence the end result. Depending on my desired goal, I've utilised my own equipment noted below however in some cases, collaborative or online rental telescopes have delivered an extension to the repertoire.
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED (530mm F/5)
Guiding telescope: Orion ST80 (400mm F/5)
Imaging sensor: Apogee Alta U16M (KAF-16803) w/D09 cooling package, Apogee Filter Wheel (FW50-7S) with Astrodon Series II filters - L, R, G, B, Ha (5nm), SII (3nm), OIII (3nm)
Guiding sensor: SBIG ST402ME
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount ME (MKS4000)
Previous Instruments (in no particular order)
Losmandy Titan, C11 OTA (2800mm F/10), SBIG STL11k, Custom Scientific L,R,G,B,Ha filters.
"AR-TWO-DEE-TWO" is the name of the Sirius 2.3 meter (7.5 feet) diameter observatory. The observatory is a real time saver. There is no need to take equipment outside and fumble around in the dark setting up and tearing down. In addition, the mount is constantly polar aligned and optics close to environment thermal equilibrium so all that is required is to power everything up and start taking photos. I contemplated a roll-off roof design, however decided to go with a dome due to windy conditions experienced at certain times of the year. Sirius observatories are Australian made and are shipped world-wide. Built using marine grade fibre glass with stainless steel fittings, while not indestructible, it would take some serious storms to knock one of these down. The observatory is dynabolted to a 3 meter (9.8 feet) square steel reinforced concrete slab which is 300 millimetres (12 inches) thick. The steel pier is filled with sand and bolted down to a smaller internal concrete slab that has no contact with the main 3 meter square slab mitigating vibration issues. This took some engineering to achieve, but works exceptionally well.
The dome rotation and shutter are motorised and computer controlled using MaxDomeII to allow remote operation. The dome opening is slaved to the telescope to ensure the instrument aperture is never blocked by the dome. Dome and shutter motor power is supplied via 12VDC batteries in which are charged using green energy, hence the solar panels. The incomplete weather station post can be seen at right of the observatory.
Operating an observatory in an unattended state presents some risks, predominately related to the weather. To mitigate rain or strong winds damaging equipment, I've installed a weather station post consisting of a variety of sensors performing different activities.
Configurable weather thresholds such as cloud coverage, rain and strong winds will close the observatory automatically to protect equipment.
Computer:
An observatory would not be complete without a computer. The PC runs Windows XP and numerous astronomical software for taking photos, telescope control, focusing and weather monitoring. This system is internet accessible via a local wireless network and satellite service allowing remote control of all observatory operations.
The observatory computer software library consists of:
Image processing is performed on a separate computer and consists of: