September Progress Update

Work continues on trying to re-establish observations with the Autonomous Robotic Telescope (ART). On the night of Thursday 8th September a test run was carried out and a number of jobs were completed with Galaxy Cam. The images returned appeared to be of good quality, however further work is required on the alignment system of the telescope.

We hope to establish a fuller service soon and a service visit is scheduled for the end of September to aid in this effort.

New Facilities

As mentioned in previous communications, The Open University is currently constructing new astronomical facilities on Mount Teide Tenerife. Two new domes will house the OUs existing remotely operated telescope, PIRATE, and a new, Completely Autonomous Telescope - COAST. The COAST facility will operate in a very similar way to the existing ART.

Work on commissioning the facilities is progressing well. However, several components need to be replaced and this will be achieved during the late September service visit.

COAST

PIRATE

The PIRATE and COAST domes

If you have any queries about the ART or the new facilities then please contact the telescope.org team.