Observatory Domes References / Baader Planetarium Blog Posts

David vs Goliath – 2.3m AllSky Dome at the Large Binocular Telescope

This entry was posted on May 25, 2022 by Michael Risch Last modified on September 27, 2023.

On the 3221m tall Mount Graham in Arizona stands an observatory like no other, because it consists of two huge optical telescopes on a single mount under an enormous protective structure: the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO). Next to it, a downright tiny Baader 2.3m AllSky dome has now been installed. Discover the 2.3M Baader AllSky Dome and additional images also on our observatory world map The "Large Binocular Telescope" (LBT) has two mirrors with 8.4m diameter each, which together form the largest optical telescope in the world. It collects as much light as an 11.8m telescope. However, due to the distance between the mirrors, the resolution of a 22.8m mirror is achieved, which can also be used sensibly thanks to adaptive optics. Several German...

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Installation of a 4.2m Highspeed Dome on Teide/Tenerife

This entry was posted on March 11, 2022 by Michael Risch Last modified on October 6, 2023.

Our installation team had the task of installing one of our HighSpeed domes on the Teide in Tenerife in May 2021. The Teide is a unique natural wonder. The 3,715-metre high "sleeping" volcano is the highest peak in Spain. The national park located on the mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers an impressive crater landscape with cooled lava flows and other volcanic phenomena as well as endemic animal and plant species. At an altitude of almost 2,400 metres, there are many astronomical observatories, including – due to the excellent seeing during the day – one of the largest solar telescopes in the world. Discover the 4.2M Highspeed Dome also on our observatory world map Our team was accommodated in the "Astronomers' Hotel"...

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Alston Observatory's (University of Central Lancashire UK) New PlaneWave Installation - Part Two

This entry was posted on February 2, 2022 by Lee Sproats Last modified on October 6, 2023.

Just before Christmas I returned to the UK University of Central Lancashire's Alston observatory to finish off installation work that was started a number of weeks earlier. The completion work had to be put on hold due to a couple of factors and for scheduling reasons too. You can read more about this first visit here. Discover this telescope/mount installation also on our observatory world map The morning of this visit's first day involved a partial dismantling of the set up. With help from Dr Mark Norris (who leads the teaching at the observatory) with some of the heavy item lifting, the L-mount was first removed and laid carefully on the floor followed by the wedge and pier flange. A new pier flange was then...

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Upgrade of the Open University's COAST and PIRATE Telescopes on Tenerife

This entry was posted on November 24, 2021 by Lee Sproats Last modified on May 25, 2023.

The United Kingdom's Open University (OU) operates two robotic telescopes, along with an associated weather station and all sky camera, 2390m (7840ft) above sea level (and the clouds!) at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) Teide observatory on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Until mid July 2021 these two telescopes, called COAST and PIRATE, had the following telescope equipment setups: COmpletely Autonomous Service Telescope (COAST): Celestron C14 on a 10Micron GM4000, Baader Heavy Pier with FLI PL09000 camera and filterwheel and Baader filters all housed in a 3.5m Baader All-Sky Dome The Physics Innovations Robotic Telescope Explorer (PIRATE): PlaneWave CDK17 on a 10Micron GM4000 mount, Baader Heavy Pier with FLI PL16803 camera and FLI filterwheel and Baader filters in a Baader 4.5m diameter AllSky...

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Alston Observatory's (University of Central Lancashire UK) New PlaneWave Installation - part one

This entry was posted on October 29, 2021 by Lee Sproats Last modified on October 6, 2023.

The Alston observatory is located in a rural area about 7 miles from the city of Preston in the north-west of England and is the undergraduate teaching and public outreach facility of the University of Central Lancashire's (UCLAN) Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Astronomy, Maths and Physics. In 2015, we supplied and installed their PlaneWave Instrument (PWI) CDK700 – a 0.7m/27.5” aperture alt-azimuth state-of-the-art computerised robotic telescope. This telescope, named the Moses Holden Telescope (MHT), was their facility “centrepiece” and is one of the current largest modern robotic telescopes in the UK. You can view this telescope in an interactive 360 degree view on the University's FaceBook page and find out more about the installation on our observatory world map. In addition to this impressive telescope,...

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Bayfordbury Observatory (University of Hertfordshire) UK PlaneWave CDK600 Installation

This entry was posted on October 29, 2021 by Lee Sproats Last modified on October 6, 2023.

The University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury observatory is primarily used for undergraduate tuition and is one of the largest teaching observatory facilities in the UK. It is located in relatively dark skies in the countryside about 6 outside the town of Hertford (about 30 miles north of central London) and includes seven optical telescopes permanently mounted in their own observatory, solar telescopes, four radio telescopes and some smaller instruments. Although primarily used for teaching, the observatory also run public outreach programmes too. More information on the courses offered and the activities of the observatory can be found here. We were honoured earlier this year to be chosen to supply and install a new addition to their optical telescope facilities to replace an older smaller telescope –...

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New instruments: Telescopes and mounts for Rodewisch Observatory

This entry was posted on April 12, 2021 by Michael Risch Last modified on October 25, 2023.

The Rodewisch Observatory in Saxony/Germany has a long history dating back to the beginnings of space travel. The observatory founder Edgar Penzel was the first person outside the former Soviet Union to photograph the first satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957. With a wire ring that he bent around a school globe, he was able to roughly determine the time of the satellite's appearance over Rodewisch and photograph "the Sputnik". The photos sparked great interest at home and abroad at that time, especially of course in the Soviet Union. This was the foundation for decades of visual and photographic satellite tracking as well as astronomical observation of the sky in Rodewisch. After the first German cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn was launched into space in 1978, the Rodewisch...

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Baader Standard Domes and Turn-Key Observatories

This entry was posted on December 1, 2020 by Team Baader Planetarium Last modified on May 25, 2023.

After more than 50 years of dome production, we notice a steady increase in requests for details and availability of our observatories. Be it classic Slit-Domes from 2.1 - 8.5 meters or AllSky Domes from 2.3 - 6.5 meters, but above all turnkey observatory solutions. The demand for these constructions – mostly with requirements for extreme climatic conditions – has increased so much that we currently still have to name far too long delivery times. New production facility The long delivery times, as well as modern demands for more environmentally friendly production standards have made it imperative to relocate our entire dome production to newly built production halls in order to enable higher capacities and faster workflows. The new production facilities, which are currently being...

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Baader Custom Developments for telescope installations

This entry was posted on August 7, 2020 by Team Baader Planetarium Last modified on May 25, 2023.

We received a question from our customer about our turn-key telescope solutions. It was actually only a short question, but we answer it in detail to show you what kind of benefit it provides, when ordering a complete telescope system from us. The question: Could you tell me what the OTA rings on the TEC140 in the attached image (from a Baader installation) are. I can see that the outer rings are the Baader heavy duty rings but what out the inner rings (inside the larger, outer rings). Do you sell these inner rings? Our answer: In short: Unfortunately we cannot offer these as regular purchasable products. In detail: these inner rings are always specially made for each complete telescope project where we supply all instrumentation...

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Turnkey Telescope Installation for "Staernwarte Gersbach"

This entry was posted on June 16, 2020 by Team Baader Planetarium Last modified on May 25, 2023.

Die Fakten Institute Student research centre phaenovum Electronics Baader Observatory Management System Telescope(s) PlaneWave CDK 17 with TEC APO 140 ED Mount(s) 10Micron GM 3000 HPS on Baader Heavy Steel Pillar Accessories DADOS Spectrograph, 8" double mounting plate, Whitelight- and H-alpha filters as well as various other optical and mechanical parts Activity Visual observation, Deep-Sky imaging, Astrometry, spectroscopy Build in Year 2020 Website www.phaenovum.de It's all about the right combination. With the help of various parts from our standard products, we have assembled the following combination of devices for the staernwarte (observatory) Gersbach in order to create a device with multifunctional use on the most solid and stable basis. From spectroscopy, astrophotography and astrometry of various satellite tracking applications up to solar observation, planetary videography and...

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