Using Robotic Telescopes
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Stage 1
The first task is to decide exactly what you want to observe and why. It may be that a little background research is needed before a final decision can be made. |
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Stage 2
Log on to the National Schools' Observatory (NSO) website, choose the Go Observing pages and answer a few questions about your selected observation. A username and password will be needed before a request can be accepted and sent to the Telescope Management Centre based at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Every school registered with the NSO is provided with a Username, Teacher Password and Student Password. |
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Stage 3
Once accepted your request is processed by the Telescope Management Centre (Liverpool John Moores University) and placed in an observing schedule ready to be sent to the telescope using the internet. |
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Stage 4
Your request is sent to one of the Schools' Observatory Telescopes. If weather and atmospheric conditions are good your observation should be carried out that evening.
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Stage 5
The robotic telescope carries out your observation by taking a digital picture which is stored at the observatory as image data. At any time you can check to see if your observation has been completed by selecting Go Observing and then Observing Status. You will need your Student Password ready for this check. |
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Stage 6
The image data from your observation is sent back to the Telescope Management Centre and then passed to the National Schools' Observatory. |
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Stage 7
By using the Go Observing pages of the Schools' Observatory website you can download your image data. You will need a Student Password before you can download this data to your computer. |
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Stage 8
To display and analyse your observation(s) in a scientific way you will now use image processing software such as LTImage). |
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