Fun with Domes (PART 4)

The dome pointing algorithm has so far been improved a good amount but there are still some things that can be done; things that require much more than merely tweaking some parameters.

Fun with Domes (PART 3)

This is where I start delving deeper into the mathematics behind the dome control algorithms. After all this it was a good week before I stopped having dreams about spherical polar coordinate transforms.

Fun with Domes (PART 2)

In my last blog post I talked about how I had started to investigate the positioning of the dome and I had found some areas of the sky where the galaxy camera was being obscured by the top of the dome.

Fun with Domes (PART 1)

Over the last week or so I have been doing some investigating into the algorithms that control the positioning of the dome throughout the night. It has been a long journey full of pitfalls and surprises but it might be leading to better dome positioning from now on.

Some thoughts on schedulers

Over the years we have had many people present their views on how the telescope's scheduling system isn't working fairly. It's an interesting point for discussion so here I want to share my two cents on scheduling systems and how they work.

Object of the Month: NGC 2903

There are a few galaxies around the skies of the Northern Hemisphere which Charles Messier somehow missed when he was compiling his famous Messier Catalogue. One of these is the galaxy NGC 2903. Discovered by William Herschel 15 years later, this bright spiral galaxy has an unusual textured core.

Clear image of the galaxy (cropped)

Happy Valentines Day

What better way to show your affection to your nearest and dearest than with a personal image of IC1805?