Shulins' Observatory Equipment

Shown here is the interior of the ten foot diameter Observatory. At the center is a 42" high pier supporting a Mountain Instruments MI-250 German Equatorial Mount. The mount can carry up to 80 pounds of telescopes and accessories, and can precisely slew to any object in  the sky. The main telescope is a truss type design. It is made by RC Optical Systems in Flagstaff, AZ.

Shown in this picture is the 10" Model RC 10A Ritchey-Chretien design. This high quality instrument was made specifically for imaging, and has very low coma. On the left side of the main telescope you can see a camera rotator (in red), and an SBIG ST-10 Camera with a color filter wheel and AO-8 Adaptive Optics Corrector. The small refractor telescope mounted on top of the main scope is used as a separate guide scope. This telescope has a special guide camera on the end of the focuser that is used to track a guide star while imaging and send minute corrections to the MI-250 Mount. The goal is to have a perfectly tracked exposure with small round stars.

Over on the right side of the photo is the black equipment rack housing the computer that runs the entire building, along with other electronics that interface to the motors and interlocks that rotate the dome, open and close the shutter, and protect the dome from damage.

The lights shown around the walls of the dome are remote controlled and are used to illuminate the inside of the dome so  a web camera can broadcast real time images when I am using the observatory remotely. 

RC Optical Telescope with Camera