Bagnall Beach Observatory

MPC Observatory Code 433

About the Observatory

Bagnall Beach Observatory uses a fiberglass Sirius Observatory which is located in my backyard. The observatory is secured to a cement slab, as is the telescope. Sirius Observatories come in a range of sizes (see the link above). Mine is the “Home” model. This is big enough for two or three people to move inside. However, most of the time the observatory is operated by remote control, avoiding the updraft of hot air caused by the heat of human bodies.

The dome rotation and opening and closing of the hatches are controlled by motors under computer control. As the dome rotates without limit, control of the dome hatches is by wireless remote control. The motorisation is provided by Sirius Observatories and the PC control, including wireless remote control, by Maxdome.

The entire sequence of control is quite complicated. I use TheSky6 to plot the positions of celestial objects. This application is also used to control the telescope and make it point at the plotted objects. An application named Automadome is embedded in TheSky6 to make the dome turn in synchronisation with the telescope. Automadome interfaces with Maxdome (above).  Another application named TPoint for Windows measures the pointing errors of the telescope and compensates for them, making it possible to point the telescope with arc minute accuracy. A CCD camera control application named CCDSoftV5 controls the camera and interfaces with TheSky6 to place the details of the object coordinates in the header of the image file.

The entire operation, from opening of the hatches, pointing of the telescope, and the taking of images, to the parking of the telescope and closing of the hatches, is controlled by a scripting application known as SBScripter, a sub-application of MPO Connections. SBScripter can be loaded with several celestial targets for the night. It will then calculate the time of the end of evening twilight and wait until then. Once evening twilight has ended, each target will be added to the imaging loop once it reaches a minimum altitude of 30 degrees and dropped out of the loop once it descends below 30 degrees. When the night’s program of observations has concluded, or morning twilight has started, it will automatically park the telescope and close the hatches. A rain and cloud detector makes it possible for the night’s program of observations to be cancelled and the hatches closed in the event of cloud or rain.

How it operates