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The Observatory has two permanently mounted C14 telescopes. Each is an optical tube assembly from the CGE 1400 series of Celestron telescopes, installed on a Bisque Paramount ME robotic-capable telescope mount.
The optical specification is 14-inch (356mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain design operating at f/11 (3910mm focal length). Custom-built dewcaps were constructed in-house.
The telescopes have Van Slyke Engineering Omega 2.7" focusers, VSE "Mega-Port Sidewinders", and matching CCD cameras installed. Each camera has 6.3 million 9x9 micron pixels in an array of 3072 x 2048 giving a field of view of 18 x 24 arcmin.
| Acquired: | 2006 (W), 2010 (E) |
|---|---|
| Optics: | Schmidt-Cassegrain |
| Aperture: | 14" (356mm) |
| Focal Length: | 154" (3910mm; f/11) |
| Detector: | SBIG STL-6303E CCD (3072x2048 array, 9x9 micron pixels) |
| Additional Instrumentation: | Van Slyke Engineering Omega 2.7" focuser, VSE "Mega-Port Sidewinder" |
| CCD Field of view: | 18 x 24 arcmin |
| Controls: | Digital GoTo |
| Drive: | brushless DC servomotors |
| Mount: | Bisque Paramount ME (German Equatorial) |
| Filters – C14E (5-position filter wheel) | Johnson-Cousins BVRI filters from Schuler (response curves; and a more detailed discussion) – original V filter replaced by a near equivalent from Norman Walker; Hα filter from Custom Scientific(4.5nm bandwidth, peak transmission 0.90). Each 4mm thick, 48–50mm diameter. |
| Filters – C14W (8-position filter wheel) | Custom Scientific LRGB; Johnson-Cousins RI filters from Astrodon (response curves); Hα filter from Astrodon (6nm bandwidth). Each 3mm thick, 50mm diameter |
| Spectrograph – C14E | The C14E is equipped, on an experimental basis, with a Shelyak Lhires III spectrograph, with a fibre feed designed and constructed by Nic Clarke. Stephen Boyle'scommissioning-phase report is available, characterizing the system prior to the fibre feed (which leaves many properties unaffected). |
| ED80 – C14W | An Explore Scientific ED80 f/6 apochromatic refractor is piggybacked on the C14W, for wide-field imaging. |
