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The Sky is even more beautiful: On Jan. 25, 2011, the Virtual Telescope introduced its new, outstanding telescope: a PlaneWave CDK17 on Paramount ME
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You can already use the new telescope! Last 25 Jan. 2011 we have officially presented our new, important instrument, now part of the Virtual Telescope Project. It is based on a prestigious Corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) 17" telescope by PlaneWave Instruments (432mm / 17" of diameter), offering amazing optical performances, exceeding those of the well-known Ritchey-Chrétien design. This telescope is hosted on a Paramount ME robotic mount by Software Bisque, the best hardware of its kind currently available, while a large-format, STL-6303E CCD camera by Santa Barbara Instrument Group is used as imaging device. More than 2500 individuals, from all around the world, joned our live, online presentation, when the very first images have been shared in real time. It was a great chance to show the superb features of this new instrument. Gianluca Masi (owner and scientific director of the Virtual Telescope), Giovanni Quarra and Andrea Camomilla (both from UnitronItalia Instruments, our technological partner) were at Bellatrix Observatory for the live presentation.
First images obtained with the new scope: M81, M66, M97, B33, M106
Both the robotic telescopes now part of the Virtual Telescope project are independently and remotely accessible and they are connected to the Internet with two independent, broadband connections, for the highest real-time control performances. The whole system is served by a network of four computers, controlling the telescopes, the environmental and weather conditions, the observatory facilities and doing the image/data reduction. Contacts: Technologies at the Virtual Telescope are supported by: - Unitron Italia Instruments |
