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10' Pro-dome from Technical Innovations. It is setup for automation and follows the telescope movements. The dome, telescope and mount is controlled and monitored from the 8' x 12' control house . It has heating but becomes warm in the summer. Eventually, I would like to add cooling

The mount (AP1200) is from Astro-Physics and is housed in a 10 foot observatory from Technical Inovations. The mount can carry up to 140 lbs of telescope and accessories. Once aligned, it has a pointing accuracy of 1 arc minute. The mount can be controlled locally with its own keypay or remotely from a computer.

As of 2011, the observatory dome has been fully automated so it will follow movement of the telescope. With software it will find the designated home position and close the shutter automatically at the end of the imaging session. NOTE: this made life easier in that I no longer have to move the dome manually every 15 minutes.

12 1/2" carbon fiber Ritchey- Chrétien telescope from RC Optical Systems. The mirrors used are hyperbolic shaped and are very difficult to manufacture. The carbon fiber tube results in low expansion/contraction rates and superior focus stability. The primary mirror is fixed and focus changes are made through the secondary mirror (1 step change in focus moves the mirror .00002". There are fans that run automatically to keep the telescope at ambient temperature.

The red object is called a Precision Instrument Rotator (PIR). It is used to rotate the camera angle in order to get the image properly positioned. It also positions the camera to allow a "guide star" to be positioned .

The PIR can be operated locally with its own control pad or remotely from a computer. Once an object has been selected for imaging, software will determine the best "guide star" and will automatically rotate the PIR to the right angle.

This image of the ST10XME is from the SBIG web page. The camera has 2184 x 1472 pixels at 6.8 microns. It also has a patented autoguiding CCD chip built into the camera. This allows the camera to track a "guide star" and sends correcting adjustments to the mount in order to keep the guide star in the same position.

No matter how accuract the mount is alligned, there is some star drift. The autoguider compensated for this drift.

This image of the STL-11000M is from the SBIG web page also. It does the same thing as the ST 10XME but has 11 million pixels (4008x2672) 9 microns in size. It also holds 2" filters. This camera also has a connection for a remote guide camera.

I have (but not shown here) a remote guide camera which is mounted on an AstroDon MOAG (manual off axis guider)

Also not shown is an 8 position filter wheel fitted with AstroDon narrow band filters along with RGBL filters.

This image of the AO-7 is from the SBIG web page. It uses a mirror adjustment to track guide stars. The ST-10 camera tracks a guide star but instead of moving the heavy mount small amount, it moves the light mirror. The AO-7 is capable of making up to 40 corrections a second.

As of 2011, the observatory (from Technical Innovations) has been fully automated. Motors and controls were installed to open the shutter and rotate the dome as necessary to follow the telescope throughout the night. I can now plan what I want to image and the software will do the rest and close everything down automatically.

CCD Navigator -- New program used to determine what objects are available for imaging on any given day. Also provides thumbnail images of what the object looks like, when they are high enough in the sky to take images and what the position of the moon is at any given time. Over 28,000 objects are available. It locates guide stars and determines what position the RCOS precision instrument rotator must be at.

CCD Auto Pilot 5 -- Master control of all programs. Once data is entered, it will control the various programs to take "dusk flats, dark frames, various light frame images, more darks, twilight flats, find adequate focus stars, move the telescope to the focus star, perform the focus and then back to it's imaging position and then shut everything down when complete. Once everything is set, no one needs to be present . UPDATE--This program works great. I can leave the observatory and go back to the house to take a nap, watch TV etc. although I still go out once in awhile to make sure dew has not set in nor clouds.

Digital Dome Works--The observatory dome has now been automated with motors. This program controls motion of the dome so it stays positioned with the telescope. No more going out every 15 minutes to manually move it. Auto Pilot also controls this program to move the dome to the "home" position and then close the dome shutter.

MaxIm 6.0 -- Controls operation of CCD camera, guiding the mount, obtaining images. Also used to process images.

Sky 6.0--Controls the mount and is used to coordinate where the images are taken. This program also interacts with the other programs as needed.

CCD Soft 5--Used to "plate solve" (makes sure the mount is in the proper position and determines the angle the CCD camera is on. It can also be used in place of MaxIm 5.0 (listed above)

RCOS TCC (Telescope Command Center)-- This program controls the Precision Instrument Rotator to position the CCD camera at different rotation angles, controls fans and heaters on the telescope to keep it cool or prevent dew formation, control the focus motor either by itself or by FocusMaX.

CCD Inspector --New program used to align mirrors of thelescope, determine quality of each of the images taken.

PhotoShop 2023--This is used in the final steps of processing images. By using PhotoShop, it can change a "fair" image into an "great" image.

The telescope is the Takahashi FSQ 106 refractor telescope. It is 106 mm (4.1") in diameter. It was bought used a few years ago but looks new. I use it for wide field imaging with the STL-11000 camera.

The G11 Gemini Mount is a "goto" mount. I use my AP1200 mount and the G11 was not being used so I sold it.

RC Gradient Removal -- Program used to remove color gradirnts in the image dut to light polution

RegiStar -- Program used to align image stars from different camera angles and focal lengths

Order placed for a Astro-Physics 160mm telescope. Order was placed on July 2002. UPDATE--As of January 2013 still no telescope??? I think it's time to look for another alternative.