Dakota P S Hardersen

M J Gaffey

P Cui

S De Silva

S Kumar

V Reddy

CiteSeerX

AN INTERNET OBSERVATORY FOR SOLAR SYSTEM ASTRONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF 
NORTH DAKOTA.  P. S. Hardersen1, S. de Silva1, V. Reddy1, P. Cui1, S. Kumar1, and M.J. Gaffey1 1Department 
of Space Studies, Box 9008, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, Hardersen@space.edu, 
desilva@space.edu, moonyguy@yahoo.com, pcui@aero.und.edu, sanatcumar@yahoo.com, gaffey@space.edu.  
 
 
Introduction: The availability of Internet control-
lable telescopes for research, education, and profitable 
ventures has increased substantially over the past dec-
ade. This is largely due to the continuing development 
of increasingly reliable browser astronomy software 
that can reliably and easily control a remote telescope 
and CCD camera [1,2].  
However, there are still relatively few educational 
institutions that have invested the resources to build 
and operate their own Internet observatories 
[3,4,5,6,7,8,910,11]. Most K-12 schools, colleges, and 
universities use free, low-cost, or paid-service observa-
tories that are operated by other organizations, such as 
the Bradford Robotic Telescope, Telescopes in Educa-
tion (TIE), and New Mexico Skies [12,13,14]. This is 
likely due to a combination of factors such as the lack 
of funding, the lack of personnel with the requisite 
expertise, poor location, and inadequate institutional 
support. 
Despite these potential difficulties and challenges, 
the University of North Dakota (UND) Department of 
Space Studies has recently begun operating a small 
Internet controllable observatory. This is the culmina-
tion of an 8-year effort that witnessed substantial hard-
ware, software, and infrastructure modifications to the 
original observatory design. 
History: Originally built in 1997 ~10 km west of 
Grand Forks, North Dakota, the observatory consists 
of a partially-underground roll-off roof that contains 
the observatory telescope (Meade classic 16-inch 
LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain), CCD (SBIG STL-
6303e), focuser, computers, and associated hardware. 
See Figures 1 and 2. Envisioned initially as an obser-
vatory dedicated to planetary sciences research and 
global distance education [3,5],  the observatory has 
experienced a series of hardware and software difficul-
ties and changes that has prevented reliable operation 
until recently [5,15].  
However, thanks to a renewed commitment from 
UND and the Department of Space Studies, the obser-
vatory has just completed an extensive five-month 
renovation and upgrade that has corrected and im-
proved many of the initial observatory design prob-
lems. The most significant renovations include: 1) ele-
vation of the roof that allows full motion of the tele-
scope without risk of collision with the roof, 2) pur-
chase of two industrial computers, and 3) purchase of 
commercially available software such as PinPoint and 
ACP Observatory Control Software [1]. In addition, a 
T1 network line has been installed at the site, although 
network access is still being provided by a wireless 
link at the present time. 
Current status and operations: During the Fall 
2005 semester, the observatory was used in support of 
SpSt 425: Observational Astronomy. This is a distance 
education class that is a part of the UND Space Studies 
distance Master’s degree program [16]. Throughout 
the semester, students learned the fundamentals of 
observing, the characteristics of astronomical equip-
ment, and the theory and practice of astrometry, pho-
tometry, and CCD image processing and color imag-
ing.  
Students from locales as distant as Sofia, Bulgaria, 
undertook two observational assignments: astrometry 
of a main-belt asteroid and CCD color imaging of 
deep-sky objects. Despite relatively poor weather and 
less than two months of observing time, many students 
were able to complete at least one of the assignments. 
Students who were not able to gather their own data 
were given existing data to process. 
Lessons learned: Although the observatory was 
originally envisioned as being totally student-
controlled, that is not a realistic or practical option. 
Currently, the instructor remotely opens the roof, pow-
ers up the telescope/CCD, and aligns and focuses the 
telescope. Once these tasks are accomplished, the in-
structor then allows the first student to observe for the 
evening. The instructor is also required to close the 
observatory in the morning after all observing sessions 
have concluded. 
Maintenance and upkeep of a relatively remote 
Internet observatory is a significant undertaking. Mi-
nor, resolvable problems and operational issues in-
volve a major time commitment and include: 1) pre-
paring the observatory for nightly operations, 2) main-
taining telescope focus, 3) being on-call all night to 
troubleshoot problems, 4) closing the observatory in 
the morning, and 5) making frequent trips to the ob-
servatory for a variety of equipment-related issues. If 
an educational institution commits to operating its own 
small Internet observatory, then it must be willing to 
invest the money and the people to ensure successful 
operations. 
Future plans: The Internet observatory will even-
tually be just one part of a diverse astronomical com-
plex that is being constructed at the UND Observatory 
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII (2006) 1074.pdf
site. The vision is to operate multiple telescopes at 
different wavelength regions (optical and radio) and in 
different observing modes (solar, broadband photome-
try, visible-wavelength spectroscopy, etc.) that will 
build and expand the astronomical expertise at UND 
for both scientific research and instrumentation devel-
opment. 
During Summer 2006, plans call for further im-
provements to the Internet observatory as well as in-
stallation of a Small Radio Telescope [17]. Besides 
purchasing additional narrow- and broad-band filters, 
an SBIG Self-Guiding Spectrograph [18] and an SBIG 
AO-7 adaptive optics system will be tested [18]. Addi-
tional goals include making one Meade 10-inch 
LX200 telescope Internet controllable for nighttime 
astronomy, while making another similar telescope 
Internet accessible for solar astronomy. 
  Once complete, the observatory complex will be 
able to offer multiple types of astronomical research 
facilities that will support a wide variety of research 
and educational projects. The ultimate goal  is to build 
a 1-meter-class professional observatory that will be a 
regional astronomical resource for North Dakota and 
the Upper Midwest region [19]. 
Acknowledgements: The University of North Da-
kota and the NASA North Dakota Space Grant Con-
sortium have provided funding for observatory renova-
tions and support. Their commitment to this project is 
greatly appreciated. 
References: [1] http://www.dc3.com. [2] 
http://www.bisque.com. [3] Wood, C. et al. (1999) 
LPSC XXX, Abstract #1839. [4] Satoh, T. et al. (2000) 
BAAS 32, 687. [5] Gerszewski, M. (2002) LPSC 
XXXIII, Abstract #1617. [6] Fallon, T.J. (2003) Ph.D. 
thesis, Ga. State U. [7] Takata, T. et al. (2003) Astron. 
Her. 96, 572. [8] Kimura, K. (2003) Astron. Her. 96, 
579. [9] Satoh, T. et al. (2003) Astron. Her. 96, 565. 
[10] 
http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/astronomy/Phoe
nix10/Phoenix10.html. [11] Gerszewski, M. (2004) 
M.S. thesis. Univ. of North Dakota. [12] 
http://www.telescope.org. [13] 
http://www.telescopesineducation.com. [14] 
http://www.nmskies.com. [15] Gerszewski, M. (2004) 
LPSC XXXV, Abstract #1729. [16] 
http://www.space.edu. [17] 
http://web.haystack.mit.edu/SRT/. [18] 
http://www.sbig.com. [19] Hardersen, P. S. and S. de 
Silva (2004) LPSC XXXV, Abstract #1597. 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1. Interior image of renovated UND Internet    
observatory. 
 
 
 
Figure 2. External view of the UND Internet observa-
tory. 
 
 
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII (2006) 1074.pdf


AN INTERNET OBSERVATORY FOR SOLAR SYSTEM ASTRONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

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AN INTERNET OBSERVATORY FOR SOLAR SYSTEM ASTRONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

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