First light of the spectroscopy setup in my new dome observatory. Observations made of the H-alpha of Pleione, 28Tau Be-star, to evaluate the Halpha V/R ratio and the radial velocity. These both parameters reflects very precisely the time of the periastron passage of this double star system. Observatiosn made on 1/5/7/8/12 febr. 2018. spectra can you find via link: spectra 28Tau
C11 telescope back from Ralf Ottow and again in the observatory
The C11 telescope was send to Ralf Ottow for check and improving the collimation and optics. He checked the optics and he said that this C11 was better then C11 median telescopes and one of the better C11 telescopes he has seen in his hands. He is an expert in the field of optics and cassegrain telescopes, he checked the optics and mechanics and did several improvemnets. After that and was send back, i could check the telescope i have now visual nice sharp stars. Thank you Ralf Ottow!
spectra H-alpha Zeta Tauri & 28Tau on 13 febr.2018 from BRIXIIS-II observatory
After a collimation of the C11 telescope i could now better spectra of 28Tau and later of zeta Tauri. used spectrograph: L200 with 1800 l/mm grating and Trius SX814 CCD camera in 2×2 binning on 13 febr. 2018. link to the data can you find via links below: 28 Tau and zeta Tauri
AG16 telescope in maintenance
I removed the AG16 telescope for maintenance and search for the cause of the collimation issue – the telescope was more then 3 year i use without any clenaing of the mirrors. Also the collimation isn’t stable at all, this gives me no round stars in the corners of the CCD-images, but this is always changing. After removing the primary mirror from the mirror-cel i noticed that the 3 bolts on the side of the 3 mirrorholders are loose and a lot ! . So this gives as result that the mirror is moving when the telescope is changing of position, no wonder that i have a unstable collimation. This is easy to fix. Now removing and cleaning the mirror and mount all again. I’ll replace the 3 fans of the telescope because they are about 7 years old and better now to change then in a couple of months when there is a problem with one of the fans.
ASA DDM85 maintenance needed – tracking isn’t smooth
I noticed the last observations that the tracking isn’t smooth anymore in RA of the ASA DDM85 mount. I checked the balance again and noticed if the telescope is on the other side of the mount the RA-current to the motor was much higher, while the balance wasn’t changed. So i contacted ASA and tols me that it is best to send the mount in maintenance/repair. Possibel is there a problem with the bearing of the RA-axis, after 9 years of working. So i removed the telescope, a hug and difficult work because this is a huge instrument and heavy (about 50 kg). Then packed the mount and sending for repair to ASA in Austria.
follow-up observations on 19 jan.2018
During a short slear sky on 19 jan. 2018, i could observe some comets as follow-up: comet C/2017 O1 (ASASSN), comet C/2017 T1 (HEINZE) and comet C/2017 T3 (ATLAS). images and data con you find in the links of the comet names in this message.
observation comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) on 18 jan. 2018
Observation of new comet C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) by use of remote telescope in Nerpio, Spain in night of 17/18 jan. 2018.
observations comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) started on daily basis
IN colaboration with F.-J. Hambsch, we started with observations of comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) on daily basis from ROAD Observatory, Chile with a 0.4-m ODK f/6.8 with Clear and Bessel-R filter. first image was on 7 january 2018. We have some issues with the focus and collimation but we can solve this now. The images are not pin-sharp but the data ,photometry and Af(rho) are very well. Overview of the observations can you find on next link: comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS)
repair of the all-sky camera and SQM-meter on 9 jan.2018
SQM meter gives no data anymore, also the all-sky camera is out of service. After some troubleshooting, it seems a bad contact on the nRJ45 connector of the SQM-LE meter and could fix that. The all-sky camera is a vidocamera and uses a video to USB convertor and this interface was defect. I could replace this today and now is all working very well.
follow-up observation of comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) on 4 jan.2018
Due the very long bad weather here, i used a remote telescope to observe comet C/2016 R2. Unfortunately there was high humidity on the remote observatory, and observatory was closed after 3 images.
