Robotic Telescopes

Robotic Telescopes are becoming more and more useful. And more common.

I have one. Several of the scopes at the Georgia darksite belong to members of the Atlanta Astronomy Club, a few hours west of the site. Many of them are robotic and can be accessed and controlled via the Internet. When I lived in the Miami community, the South Florida club considered plans for one in the everglades, but that was not practical for several reasons related to the ownership and use of the land.

I've used Slooh for a few years, and recommended it highly. I no longer recommend it to friends because the management is not responsive to customers. It seems the owners are going to shift from serious astronomy work to targeting children. It is increasingly difficult to reserve time on the scope.

I used Bradford in its early days, and was very disappointed. I'm told I need to use it again, as it has improved greatly.

I think we will be seeing more and more of these robotic scopes in the future, and that they will add to the serious astronomer's work.

Polaris

Polaris

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Right Ascension: 02h 31m 48.7s
Declination: +89° 15′ 51″
Distance from Earth: 430 Light Years

Polaris is one of the most familiar stars to astronomers, since it is located near the north celestial pole. It is often called the North Star.

Polaris is a multiple star system. Polaris B can be seen in a modest telescope.

Polaris is a Cepheid Variable. A Cepheid is a type of variable star which exhibits a regular pattern of changing brightness as a function of time. Cepheid variables are used for determining distances in modern astronomy. Polaris is our closest Cepheid.

I imaged Polaris with 85mm f/5.6 Apochromatic Refractor telescope with SBIG ST2000-XM CCD camera. The image was taken on April 26, 2009.