| Live
views
of
PIRATE (Dome interior is dark unless light is on.)  Click
here to see
the PIRATE Baader
Planetarium All-Sky 3.5 m dome open and close. |
IntroductionPIRATE is a remote-controlled observatory with a 17 inch telescope on a robotic mount in an automated 3.5m dome. It is mainly used for university level astrophysics teaching, both in a distance learning context and in traditional lab courses.Research applications include transiting exoplanets and transient sources. PIRATE was funded by the Physics Innovations Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (piCETL) and the Open University's (OU) Department of Physics and Astronomy. |
StudentsStudents connect to PIRATE via a web interface and submit commands to remotely open or close the dome, point the telescope, and acquire images of the night sky. Observers download images to their own PC for analysis with commercial CCD image manipulation software. Expert users have full access to the PIRATE control PC for system maintenance, development and more advanced applications.Small student groups have shared simultaneous access to PIRATE via the automated observatory control software ACP. Larger groups of students will be able to monitor PIRATE's real-time use with an animated 3D model of the telescope under a simulated sky. The animation runs locally on the students' PC but obtains live information on the status of PIRATE from a web server. When used alongside a live conferencing software, interactive, live observations with a mass audience are feasible. |
|
  OAM aeriel view OAM on Google Maps |
Site
PIRATE is at the Observatori
Astronomic de Mallorca (OAM), the host institution of the Open
University residential school course Observing the Universe (SXR208)
in
Observational
Astronomy
and
Planetary
Science.
|
 M20 as seen by PIRATE Mark 1 (Holmes & Horner) |
DataData obtained by PIRATE is transferred to an on-line ftp archive at the Open University. |