Getting Started with MyTelescope
Using our observatories to take your own astronomy images is easy!
Once you have registered and purchased credits,
simply book a telescope, connect to the observatory and
start controlling: point the telescope at objects such as galaxies,
nebula, binary stars and take pictures.
You can learn about these steps here, either in video format
or as web pages.
Simply visit the registration page - we've tried to
keep it as short as possible!
You'll be re-directed back to this page when you're done.
Viewing credits are how you pay for your
telescope time.
On a 10 inch telescope, an hour uses about
15 credits which translates
to between us$10.50 and us$15.00,
depending on which observing package you purchase.
To control a telescope, you first book a session: with
a single click on the booking schedule, you select the
site, telescope and start time of your session.
You can then select the duration of your session and
book the telescope.
The same schedule also allows you to connect to your session
when the time comes.
Control of the telescope is done with our `live control' Java
applet.
This applet allows you to point the telescope using a sky map and to
take, view and download images using both the spotting camera and the
primary camera.
It also has controls for the filter wheel and focuser,
and provides a number of other tools which you may find useful.
Practice sessions:
Daytime practice sessions are a great way to learn: they allow
you to get used to booking and controlling a telescope even though
the roof is closed and you won't be able to see the stars.
These sessions cost only 1.2 credits (this is the
booking fee, there is no fee for the time used).
Weather at the Telescope Sites:
Our telescope sites are located in areas where the sky is very dark - you
can often see the milky way with the spotting cameras that are
installed on each telescope.
However, the weather at the sites is not always predictable.
We mention this so that people are aware that some of their advance
bookings will experience weather cancellations due to cloud or wind.
When this happens, only the booking fee is charged - there is no time fee.
We try to help you judge the weather situation by displaying on
the booking page the current conditions at the site, an hourly astronomy
forecast and links to weather forecasts provided by other sites.
In addition, we offer a `clear sky alert': you
can request an email be sent to you when the weather is expected to be clear.
Questions?
If you have any questions that aren't covered in these pages,
you can check
the FAQ page or
.
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