Remote Robotic Telescope Update - June 2016

Hello, all! A quick post on the state of Insight Observatory's robotic telescope project. For those of you "in the dark" (ha!) here is a short recap: ever since the beginning of Insight Observatory, we have had plans to set up and run a robotic telescope for use on IO-sponsored projects. We have the majority of items needed to fulfill this endeavor and are continuously looking for means to complete the acquisition of the remaining equipment so the project can finally be realized.

As of June 2016 we possess the following items:

• Dream Aerospace Systems 16" f/3.75 Astrograph: The telescope itself provides a fast optical system and coverage of large CCD imaging sensors
• Software Bisque Paramount ME: This type of mount has been widely used for robotic telescopes for years, so we know we have a battle-proven solution
• Astrodon MMOAG: Off-axis guider for guiding the Paramount
• HP Server: Need a computer to run all this stuff!

What is needed to complete the project? Here's a breakdown:

• Finger Lakes Instruments (FLI) ProlinePL 16803 Imaging Camera: This has a large 16MP CCD and is ideally suited for our scope (also considering the FLI Microline series as well)

• Starlight Express Ultrastar Guiding Camera: Used with our off-axis guider this will assist with the tracking of the Paramount

• Finger Lakes 10 Position Filter Wheel: This will hold the imaging filters

• Filters: We will need LRGB filters at first, and then later will acquire other types (Hydrogen-Alpha, photometric, etc) when funds become available

Of course. let's not forget that we need a place to host this telescope! Last year we had some discussions with SkyPi and found them to be excellent people to work with, so we hope to be able to use them when it comes time to get our scope set up and hosted.

That's all, for now, folks, keep your eye on this site for further updates!