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Phoenix is divided into two sections, the observation dome and the
control room. The dome houses one large telescope, an equipment cage
and a control console that includes a computer.
The dome is of the standard half-sphere type, 3 meters in diameter,
with shutters extending well beyond the zenit point. The width of the
shutters are 70 cm, and there are two of them, one opening like a door
with horizontal hinges (lower shutter) and the other rolling on wheels
up and backwards. Both shutters and dome rotation are motorized and
computer controlled.
The control room is equipped with a control desk, darkroom equipment and tools for maintenance and development. The main function of the room is for telescope control. The telescope and dome can be controlled entirely from the control desk. The desk is equipped with two computers and various electronics e.g. for system and weather monitoring. The main computer is equipped with star maps, CCD camera control, image processing, observation recording, etc. The other computer is dedicated to telescope and dome control. The room also functions as a darkroom for film development and copying of black-and-white photos.
- Phoenix telescope optics.
The telescope is a Newtonian with a diameter of 40 cm (16") and focal length
of 180 cm (f/4.5). It is equipped with a 11 x 70 finder scope and a 8
cm diameter and 120 cm focal length guide scope (f/15). The optics are
made by Meade Instruments Corp.
- Phoenix telescope mounting.
The mounting is a very rigid equatorial fork made of steel and
weighting about 400 kg. It is standing on a concrete pillar placed on
bedrock. Both axis have friction drives with stepper motors. The
motors can be run in four modes: fast slewing, slewing, slow guiding
and guiding.
- Computer system.
The motors on both axis are controlled by a telescope computer mounted
inside a cabinet on one of the fork arms. The software includes
correction algorithms for refraction and aberration. The telescope
computer communicates with the console computers in the dome and in
the control room. The main purpose of the console computers is to
communicate with the telescope operator and transfer his commands to
the telescope computer.
- CCD camera.
The telescope is equipped with a SBIG ST-7 CCD camera. The ST-7 has a
765 x 510 pixels chip. The pixel resolution is 16 bits. One
major feature of the camera is that it has a separate CCD chip for
guiding. In most cases the camera is able to find a guide star when
the main chip is centered on the target object.
- Photographic camera.
A normal photographic SLR camera can be mounted to the
telescope. Guiding is then done by the guide scope, either manually or
by use of a ST-4 autoguider.
- Other equipment. The telescope is also equipped with various eyepieces, an illuminated reticle eyepiece, a coma corrector lens, a Barlow lens, etc.
Updated Dec. 16th 98 by
vevadministrator@dse.no