In Coonabarabran! John Gleason (right) with Steve Lee (Comet Lee 1999H1) celebrate a successful 2-weeks of CCD imaging with the new Software Bisque, Paramount ME robotic telescope mount.
As the first Paramount ME in Australia, it's flawless operation allowed the collection of over a gigabyte of new hydrogen alpha image data for John Gleason's new book, "The Fires of Creation".
The ME has extraordinary tracking and pointing accuracy, making the acquisition and taking of deep sky images routine. The
equipment is now perminently installed in Steve's "Sky Shed" observatory. The observatory now features a separate control room, isolating the telescope and CCD camera operation from the observer and computer.
We hope to add remote imaging capababilities in the future. Photo by Pam Lee.
All the comforts of home! Well almost. Computers run both mount and camera function. With interior and exterior doors closed, the observer is out of the wind and cold.
The ME mount easily supports the Astro Physics 5" f/6 refractor and accessories. The 5" Astro Physics refractor is noteworthy for its razor sharp optics and wide, flat field. The Nikon 300mm f/2.8 EDIF lens used for many medium field images is carried on the back of the 5".
In this photo, the SBIG ST10-E CCD camera is attached to the 30" prime focus of the 5" telescope.
The SBIG ST10-E CCD camera attaches directly to the Nikon 300mm with Mandel Wide Field Adapter. The CCD camera is equiped with a Custom Scientific, 4nm bandpass, anti-reflection coated hydrogen alpha filter. The Nikon lens attaches directly to a Losmandy camera mount to the top dovetail plate on the 5".
3 hour exposure in Hydrogen Alpha light on 30 Doradus. Filamentary structure near the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magallenic Cloud. One of the first long exposure images taken with the new system.
