HHO - A History

2011

HHO made a few changes to its equipment in 2011.  First was the purchase of a Littrow design Spectra L200 Spectrograph, second was a new mount for the piggy back guide scope and the third was a new CCD c/- the benefits of another Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant from the Planetary Society.  The grant has gone toward the purchase of a new SBIG STL-1001E, a professional grade photometric camera. 

To match the equipment changes, a new PC was installed with a new Operating system (Windows 7) as well as updates to the Observatory control System - ACP 6, Maxim DL v5 and Pinpoint 5.  The old CRT display has also gone, replaced with a 17" LCD screen (not that it gets used much).

2008-2010

This is a picture of my backyard as at 03 July 2004.  I include it so you can see that you do not need a large yard in order to set-up/build a working observatory.  The actual space available is 13 metres x 5 metres.   In 2010 it doesn't look any different except the drought over the past 5 years has made things a little browner in colour. Things are bouncing back now that the drought appears over.

The ST9-E has gone leaving me with just the one main camera.  Fortunately the ST-8E is a stalwart and hasn't let me down yet.  A Spectra-L200 Slit Spectroscope has been ordered and the observatory will (~2011) commence taking Spectra of Asteroids and Eclipsing Binary Stars discovered by the observatory.

The observatory now has a new floor of treated pine decking so it should last virtually permanently.  The MFD was somewhat cheaper but gets wet and mouldy and that can't be good for the electronics or optics.

2006-2007

In 2006 I started the first unit of study that will hopefully lead to a Masters in Astronomy in 6 years time.  The observatory continues its study of Binary Asteroids and in fact has already made new discoveries in 2006 (details are provided in the news section).  I also managed to sell my Meade LX-90 telescope and Starlight Xpress MX516 CCD and purchased a second hand SBIG ST-9E to assist in my observations.  I am also hoping to purchase an SBIG DSS-7 Spectrograph (If I can raise the money).  The ST-9E has enhanced cooling and has been fitted for water cooling which allows me to set a CCD temperature 45ºc below ambient (about 20ºc cooler than the ST-8E can achieve - so a real advantage on those hot sticky summer nights)

The observatory continues to undertake NEO, Minor Planet and Comet follow-up work but it's primary role has shifted to Minor Planet and NEO Lightcurves and the search for Binary Asteroids in particular.

In mid 2006, the observatory added AAVSO Variable Star Observations, MicroFUN critical observations and Supernovae Searches to it's bow.  All are now automated (took a bit of fiddling to get the Galactic Bulge plate solves to work)

2005

Hunters Hill Observatory joined the BinAstPhotSurvey program under Principle Investigator (PI) Dr Petr Pravec of the Astronomical Institute in the Czech Republic in 2005.  I have worked with Petr on many occasions previously undertaking lightcurves of NEO's to determine if there was any binary nature.  This new survey has expanded it's horizons to cover a wider range of targets including those smaller objects located in the Inner Main Belt.

The weather conditions late 2004/early 2005 have kept the observatory closed for many nights.  The drought that has severely ravaged most of Australia seems to have turned (fingers crossed anyway).

In Mid 2005, the winners of the 2005 Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants were announced and Hunters Hill Observatory had it's name on the list.  The $4,900 US was put toward the purchase of a second hand SBIG ST-8E and CFW-8 filter wheel to provide a wider field of view and more stable/consistent imaging platform for lightcurve work.

By the end of 2005, the observatory had finally been able to move into full automation mode and was able to operate all night unattended.  The result has been a massive increase in the volume of data captured and an increased throughput of targets and image capture reliability.

2004

With the improvement in the Australian Dollar in late 2003/early 2004, the newly released Meade 14" LX200GPS scopes became very affordable.  So affordable in fact that I sold the 10" and purchased one.  As you can see from this picture, the 14" only just fits inside the 2.1m x 2m x1.8m roll top shed.  Fortunately the shed as a 1.2m wide door so it made access easy.

BUT being a new line meant that some items were difficult to come by and for me there was a real problem obtaining a suitable wedge.  Sick of waiting for a Meade Superwedge to arrive I ordered a Custom Mitty Evolution 14 wedge from the states.  There were some delays (Australian Customs held it up for 2 weeks) and after a total of 3 months the new scope was set-up and ready to go.  Due to the size of the new scope, some significant changes had to be made to the observatory and the footings for the Scope.  The improvements actually made the scope far more stable and to date Polar Alignment has not shifted (as it had with the 10")

Further work undertaken includes permanently connecting the observatory to power and LAN to save me having to roll the lines out and putting them away each session.

The observatory continued to undertake NEO, Minor Planet and Comet follow-up work but there was a significant shift toward Minor Planet Photometry when Official MPC policy suggested that amateurs, in general, could offer little to Minor Planet Astrometry.

2003

In Late 2002, the roll top roof observatory was completed and was given first light in the new year.  The observatory had already obtained its MPC code in November 2002 and started NEO, Minor Planet and Comet observing began in earnest in January 2003.  It was absolute heaven to be able to sit down in comfort and run my observing sessions.  The 10" LX200GPS allowed me to follow-up objects routinely as faint as magnitude 18.5 and on clear, dark nights as faint as magnitude 20.

More than 1000 Astrometry and 2000 Photometry observations were made during the year.  More could have been done but the observing sessions were still run manually (ie manual intervention to point the scope, start guiding and imaging).  In November I moved toward total automation, purchasing ACP3, Pinpoint and MaxIm DL/CCD.  Although the pointing and automation of the scope worked well, MaxIm and the Starlight Xpress Camera did not work well resulting in unexplained lockups.  But I persisted to the detriment of my Observation residuals.

2002

In mid 2002, the original LX90 was replaced by a 10" LX200GPS after my interest turned to Comets and Minor Planet follow-up work.  Due to the construction of the Pergola the set-up position of the scope had to be moved 4 metres to the West.  This position gave me good North and East horizons but limited the West and South horizons considerably.  The Control computer also needed to be set-up over the Laundry tub and I had to stand throughout the observing sessions.

I spent considerable time researching what was required to undertake Minor Planet work.  The LX90 was restricted in its limiting magnitude but I could nab the occasional NEO including the famous 2002 NY40 (actually saw this one race through the sky visually.  I needed to track it at speed 2 on the Handbox)  The switch to the 10" LX200GPS made a big difference in pointing accuracy and limiting magnitude.  Late in 2002 I also made the move to a newer, larger CCD (the MX716) that allowed me to ensure that all objects I was chasing were in the actual FOV. 

2002 also saw me move to photometry and I started some CCD Variable Star Observations for the AAVSO and moved to Asteroid Lightcurves late in the year.

2001

The LX-90 was used for visual work only originally.  I wanted to undertake some scientific work so I put the set-up to use observing and recording Occultation's. 

I rapidly tired of just looking at things and wanted to start recording what I saw (and occultation's were not that frequent) so I purchased my first CCD camera.  The MX516 had a tiny FOV when used in the LX90, even with the f/3.3 Focal Reducer, so I decided to piggyback the camera and attach a 135mm Camera Lens.  Following in the footsteps of Vello Tabur I started a small Sky Survey program.  The FOV was small and the set-ups limiting magnitude was 12.  I also found it almost impossible to ensure the images from one series to the next lined up which made blinking inefficient. 

After 4 months I decided that this survey work was a waste of time as the amount of sky I was covering was so small and the amount of sky I was able to 'blink' was even smaller.  During my survey work I had "rediscovered" some known asteroids so I decided to try my hand at Minor Planet Follow-up work.  And that, as they say, was that and I haven't looked back since.

The initial setup was quite primitive.  The LX90 was set up on it's wedge and tripod each session (and polar aligned each session).  The scope and camera were linked to a PC and laptop located just inside the back door of the house.  It was uncomfortable but it served it's purpose but wasn't to last long as my wife required that a Pergola be built over the back of the house which blocked the scopes view - it needed to be repositioned.