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External Links
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Society for Astronomical Science
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The Palmer Divide Observatory
IAU Observatory Code 716
Funding for observations and research at the Palmer Divide
Observatory is provided by
NASA grants NNG06GI32G and NNX06AB30G and by National Science Foundation grant AST-0607505
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The Palmer Divide Observatory is named after
the geological feature on which the observatory is located. The "Divide" is an
east-west ridge that juts out from the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains between Colorado
Springs and Denver, CO. The elevation is about 7600 ft. in the subdivision located
approximately 9 miles east of Monument, CO, and 25 miles north of Colorado Springs, CO. Most
work is dedicated to the determination of asteroid lightcurves with some variable stars
and astrometry mixed in from time-to-time. Special concentration is given to the Hungaria
group of asteroids as well as Mars-crossers since these have a higher potential for being
binary. So far, PDO has provided the initial observations that lead to the formal
discovery of six binary asteroids.
The aerial photo at left was taken before the second building, housing the three 0.35m
SCT telescopes, was built. It was also well before a housing "boom". There are
now about 50 "McMansions" located in the open area on the left side and at the
top of the photo. One even has a two-level garage that holds seven vehicles! |
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Weather information is monitored using a
LaCrosse Technology 3610 weather station. This featuers a wireless station located on the
building housing the two 0.35m telescopes, about 150 feet from the monitoring panel. The
panel hooks directly to a computer via a RS-232 port to store data. A web publishing
program converts selected data to a graphic image that is automatically uploaded to the
MPO web site every ten minutes. The picture behind the weather data is of M16, taken at
the PDO. Johnson-Cousins RVB filters were used in lieu of the usual RGB. No luminance
image was taken. The images were combined in CCDSoft from Software Bisque. |
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Instrumentation
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Software
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0.5m f/8.1 Ritchey-Chretien
Telescope: Jerry Foote, ScopeCraft, Inc.
Camera: FLI IMG w/Kodak 1001E (1024x1024, 24 um)
Filter Wheel: FLI CFW-2 (USB)
Filters: AstroDon (formerly Schuler), BVRC
Focuser: RoboFocus |
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Telescope/Camera Control: MPO Connections
Astrometry/Photometry: MPO CanopusAffiliations
American Astronomical Society/DPS - Full Member
Society for Astronomical Science - Program
Committee |
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0.35m f/9.1 Schmidt-Cassegrain
Telescope: Meade LX-200GPS (rated f/10)
Camera: FLI IMG w/Kodak 1001E (1024x1024, 24 um)
Filter Wheel: FLI CFW-1 (Serial)
Filters: AstroDon (formerly Schuler), BVRC
Focuser: Meade standard electric focuser |
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Asteroid Discoveries
34366 Rosavestal
34398 Terryschmidt
70030 Margaretmiller |
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0.35m f/9.1 Schmidt-Cassegrain
Telescope: Meade LX-200GPS
Camera: SBIG STL-1001E (1024x1024, 24 um)
Filter Wheel: Internal to SBIG
Filters: AstroDon (formerly Schuler), BVRC
Focuser: Meade standard electric focuser |
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Binary Asteroid Discoveries
3309 Brorefeld
5477 1989 UH2
5905 Johnson
9069 Hovland
34706 2001 OP83
76818 2000 RG79 |
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0.35m f/5 Schmidt-Cassegrain
Telescope: Meade LX-200GPS, Optec NextGen f/5 reducer
Camera: SBIG ST-9E w/Kodak 206E (512x512, 20 um)
Filter Wheel: Optec MaxFilter
Filters: AstroDon (formerly Schuler), VRC
Focuser: Meade standard electric focuser |
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Contact Info
Brian D. Warner – Director/Owner
Palmer Divide Observatory
17995 Bakers Farm Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80908
Ph: (719) 481-0557 (no software tech calls, please!) |
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