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AAVSOnet:
The AAVSO Robotic Telescope Network
The AAVSO now maintains a network of remote, robotically controlled, and
automatically queued telescopes for the use of its members. Five
telescopes, all located in the southwestern United States, are currently
active and taking data right now. A sixth, a 0.61-meter telescope
located at Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand, is being
prepared for commissioning and activation as of December 2009.
The telescopes are all automatically scheduled using ACP, with image
acquisition and telescope control by Maxim-DL. Time on the telescopes
is shared between AAVSO key projects (primarily surveys and field
calibrations) and AAVSO member programs. Time on AAVSOnet telescopes is
awarded on a nominally competitive basis, although the systems may be
used by members for any reasonable purpose if time is available.
To request time on these telescopes, you must be a current member of the
AAVSO in good standing, or have the approval of the AAVSO Time
Allocation Committee. To submit a proposal to use these telescopes,
please log on to the Blue&Gold section of the AAVSO
website, and go to the Proposal
Submission Form.
SRO50
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SRO50 is a 50-cm, f/4 telescope located at the Sonoita Research Observatory near Sonoita, Arizona (UT-7).
- Camera: SBIG ST8XME
- FOV: 23' x 16'
- Pixel scale: 0.919 arcsec/pixel
- Filters: 10-position filter wheel, with Johnson-Cousins UBVRcIc, clear filter, and Sloan griz
W28
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W28 (Wright-28) is a 28-cm Celestron C-11 located at the Astrokolkhoz telescope facility near Cloudcroft, New Mexico (UT-7). This telescope was donated to the AAVSO by the late Paul Wright.
- Camera: SBIG ST7
- FOV: 14' x 9'
- Pixel scale: 1.08 arcsec/pixel
- Filters: 10-position filter wheel, with Johnson-Cousins BVRcIc, clear filter, Sloan gr, H-alpha (line), H-alpha (continuum, R645), and [SII] (line)
W30
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W30 (Wright-30) is a 30-cm Meade LX200 also located at the Astrokolkhoz telescope facility near Cloudcroft, New Mexico (UT-7). This telescope was donated to the AAVSO by the late Paul Wright.
- Camera: SBIG ST9
- FOV: 16' x 16'
- Pixel scale: 1.9 arcsec/pixel
- Filters: 5-position filter wheel, with Johnson-Cousins BVRcIc and clear filters
BSM
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BSM, the AAVSO Bright Star Monitor is a 6-cm wide-field telescope located at the Astrokolkhoz telescope facility near Cloudcroft, New Mexico (UT-7). It is intended for photometry and monitoring of bright stars (V < 9.0).
- Camera: SBIG ST8XME
- FOV: 127' x 84'
- Pixel scale: 4.97 arcsec/pixel
- Filters: 5-position filter wheel, with Johnson-Cousins BVRcIc and clear filters
APASS
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APASS, the AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey is made of two 20-cm telescopes co-mounted on the same platform, and capable of monitoring the same field in two filters simultaneously. It is located at the Dark Ridge Observatory near Weed, New Mexico (UT-7).
- Camera: Apogee Alta U16M
- FOV: 174' x 174'
- Pixel scale: 2.6 arcsec/pixel
- Filters: Johnson BV, clear, and Sloan ugriz
OC61 (coming soon)
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OC61, an Optical Craftsman 0.61-meter telescope located at the Mount John University Observatory of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (UT+12). This telescope is nearing the end of its commissioning phase, and should come online in early 2010. It will be the first of the southern hemisphere telescopes in AAVSOnet, providing global sky coverage for the AAVSO community!
- Camera: Finger Lakes PL09000
- Pixel scale: 0.3 arcsec/pixel
- FOV: 16' x 16'
- Filters: Johnson BV, clear, and Sloan ri
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