The Peggy and Eric Johnson 1-meter telescope at Lowell Observatory: converting a historic observatory into a modern research facility

Le résumé fourni par la source

In 2021 Lowell Observatory began preparations for a new remotely operated 1.0-m class telescope facility. Site studies were conducted and a historic observatory on Anderson Mesa near Flagstaff, Arizona was selected to house a PlaneWave Instruments PW1000 1-meter telescope. This facility previously housed the 13” Pluto Discovery Telescope and the 23” Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) telescope. The equatorial piers were modified to accept a custom vibration optimized bridge structure to support the dome-centered Alt/Az telescope mount. Many other updates were installed including network, power, dome repairs, access platforms, and general remodeling. The commissioning instrument selection process resulted in the purchase of the Teledyne-PI SOPHIA 4096B CCD camera. Further custom components were needed to integrate the camera to the Nasmyth port of the telescope including a lightweight filter wheel, detector alignment mechanism, payload support assembly, and cable management/de-rotation limits. Commissioning of the facility started in late 2023 and it has already been used successfully for a number of occultation events. The full SOPHIA instrument assembly, including the custom filter wheel, is on track to be completed in 2025. Future facility plans such as power outage recovery, robotic observing software, and second instrument planning are currently in progress.

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