16"-20" Scopes on a 4.5-6.5m Observatory - Feasibi

Wanna make a scope? Or better still, grind a mirror yourself. Or, you have some good tips in making a really useful accessory? This is the place to show what your hands can do...
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chrisyeo
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Post by chrisyeo »

- Working with volunteers in astronomy and science outreach is also a good idea.
R: appreciate more infos on these
- Collaborating with the science center and any science foundations can help with funding.
- Interested schools or teachers can sign on with a astronomy introduction programme, where they can be taught about astronomy and view the observatory.
- Volunteers can help give introductory lectures and set up smaller scopes around the main observatory.
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Tachyon
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Post by Tachyon »

Just a thought -

Unlike remote access, allowing the users to direct handle the telescopes need more thought. Do you really want a newbie to handle a 16" scope? You would probably want to classify the users into 'beginners', 'intermediate' and 'experts'; and then making sure that the beginners are supervised when they are using the scopes. Who will do the supervising? And how are they renumerated? Also, there needs to be a procedure in place to ensure that damage is easily and quickly identified, and damage costs fairly assessed. Some of the thorny questions...
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
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ariefm71
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Post by ariefm71 »

What do guys think of :
Remote Access @ S$ 100/hr
Observatory Rental @ S$ 500 per 3 hrs block
The S$100/hr is for using the MAX mount and 20" RCX?
If you can have another set of equipment that cost 1/3 of the above combo (maybe a 14" LX200R GOTO), the rental can be 1/3 as well.
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mrngbss
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Post by mrngbss »

$500 per 3-hr block for 10 students -

1. Is it a total usage time from the 10 students?
2. Is it a individual time of each student? This means that the school has access to 30 operational hrs for $500?

If no. 2, then total justifiable. If no. 1, there is waiting time. each student only has 18 min.

Is 18 min enough to do imaging? Tachyon?

Government schools should not charge fees, private /independent schools can charge usage fees. :)
Wee Nghee the Pooh
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Lee
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Post by Lee »

Tachyon wrote:Just a thought -

Unlike remote access, allowing the users to direct handle the telescopes need more thought. Do you really want a newbie to handle a 16" scope? You would probably want to classify the users into 'beginners', 'intermediate' and 'experts'; and then making sure that the beginners are supervised when they are using the scopes. Who will do the supervising? And how are they renumerated? Also, there needs to be a procedure in place to ensure that damage is easily and quickly identified, and damage costs fairly assessed. Some of the thorny questions...
For most institution there will always be an person-in-charge at all time; i.e be it from the school, the students or volunteers.
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Lee
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Post by Lee »

ariefm71 wrote:
What do guys think of :
Remote Access @ S$ 100/hr
Observatory Rental @ S$ 500 per 3 hrs block
The S$100/hr is for using the MAX mount and 20" RCX?
If you can have another set of equipment that cost 1/3 of the above combo (maybe a 14" LX200R GOTO), the rental can be 1/3 as well.
MAX & 20" RCX :roll: 8-)
Observatory system type is 1 such criteria
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acc
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Post by acc »

IMO installing such a large telescope in Singapore is a waste of its potential. Probably better for the institution to purchase a few smaller scopes that can both be used here, and brought to dark-sky sites as well.
We do it in the dark...
Portaball 12.5"
Takahashi Mewlon 210
William Optics 110ED
...and all night long!
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Lee
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Post by Lee »

mrngbss wrote:$500 per 3-hr block for 10 students -

1. Is it a total usage time from the 10 students?
2. Is it a individual time of each student? This means that the school has access to 30 operational hrs for $500?

If no. 2, then total justifiable. If no. 1, there is waiting time. each student only has 18 min.

Is 18 min enough to do imaging? Tachyon?

Government schools should not charge fees, private /independent schools can charge usage fees. :)
For Observatory usage there will always be a minimum usage per slot of says 3hr and probably a class of 30-40 will be allowed (although not at the same time). And definately not everyone get to do imaging. The teacher will have to allocate time & resources to fit the time slot booked.

Just to check :
How easy is it for a public government school (w/o affliation or education linkup) book another school facilities ; i.e swimming pool; robotic lab, etc
w/o any conditions.
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Lee
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Post by Lee »

acc wrote:IMO installing such a large telescope in Singapore is a waste of its potential. Probably better for the institution to purchase a few smaller scopes that can both be used here, and brought to dark-sky sites as well.
I believe any small or very large scope will always has it place if properly implemented in Singapore. Multiple portable scopes had already been setup.
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Tachyon
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Post by Tachyon »

mrngbss wrote:Is 18 min enough to do imaging? Tachyon?
Generally, it takes about 1 min to slew to the object, and 3-5 mins to center the object and set the autoguider. First timers may take up to 10 mins.

After that, the exposure times will depend on the object to be imaged. If it is a brighter DSO object like M42, then 30s x 4 each for L, R, G & B should be sufficient, giving a total of 8 mins exposure time. Including filter changing time of about 15s each, that should work out to 9-10 min each.

The total time at the scope would be about 15 mins each.

However, for dimmer DSOs, you may need 1-5 mins of exposure each, and I once did a 60-min session for just one object, and that was just the minimum!

If you have only 18 mins, I suggest to stick to brighter objects like planets and brighter DSOs.

Cheers!
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
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