ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

32-inch telescope 32 inch telescope 0.81m astrograph 24 inch telescope 32 inch telescope 81cm astronomical research observatory The 24 inch telescope 48 inch telescope 24 inch telescope .81m telescope the 61cm telescope  

 

Astronomical Research  

Observatory

The Meade 16" Optical Tube Assembly has been de-commissioned

 

  16 inch robotic telescope

Astronomical Research Institute 

Paramount ME - Meade 16" OTA - Installed October 2003

The Astronomical Research Observatory (ARO) was constructed for the purpose of operating a sky survey telescope in search of NEO's, asteroids and supernova.  Our current instrument is a Software Bisque Paramount with a Meade 16"optical tube assembly.  The CCD camera is a Santa Barbara Instruments Group ST-9E with 20 micron pixels and a 512x512 array.  The telescope and CCD camera are controlled using Software Bisque software including "The Sky", CCD-Soft, Orchestrate, and T-Point.   

Image scale for the Paramount - Meade 16" is 1.66 arc/sec per pixel at f/6.3 with a field of view that is 15.44 x 15.44 arc minutes.  Focal length is 2280mm at f/5.68.   Limiting magnitude with this setup for a 60 sec exposure is 18.54 with a 90% probability.  

The retractable roof design suited our current needs better than a dome for full access to the sky without dome rotation problems.  In addition, it was more economical allowing us to place our funds into telescopes and CCD imaging devices rather than buildings to house our equipment.    The current Paramount -  Meade 16 inch telescope will continue to operate in one observatory and a 0.81 meter (32 inch) fully robotic telescope occupies the space in the opposing observatory.     

 

Meade 16" telescope on the SB Paramount

16 inch meade telescope on a Paramount ME

16 inch Paramount- Meade in the Astronomical Research Observatory