Current state of being in Castelgrande
Dear colleghi,
I was requested by Aitor to write to all of you an informal summary of
the current state of the observatory in Castelgrande. So, now while the
weather is bad and I have a smaller workload I use the opportunity and
want to present you a general overview.
1) Observations.
I can definitely say that the major observational program, i.e. the
observations of satellites and space debris have been successfully
started and are regularly carried out by me since October 26th on every
more or less clear night. Since then observations on 10 nights have been
already done. The longest observation so far was on October 31st, which
lasted for about 8 hours and yielded currently the largest number of
1530 position measurements for 151 satellites. The latest observation
was on November 11th. By now only target observations have been done.
From the second half of November I will prepare for the first survey
observation of satellites. The limiting magnitude of observed satellites
is around 15.5 mag at exposure time of 11-12 seconds for satellites with
low apparent angular velocities. A fully clear winter night would yield
measurements of at least 200 space objects. Observations are usually
planned for satellites with altitudes of at least 15 degrees above horizon.
Also, I have performed two observations of GRB optical afterglows for
GRB171020A and GRB171102B. But these were rather faint ones, so no
optical source could be detected on stacked images of our 22-cm
telescope. As soon as we'll have our second 35-cm telescope installed at
some time next year we'll be able to go deeper in limiting magnitude.
Once I have attempted an observation of asteroids in order to submit
their astrometric measurements to the Minor Planet Center and to get the
observatory code, but it was difficult to get proper results with
acceptable residuals (the reason is a rather large pixel scale with
4.82"/px). I will have to do a second attempt some time later again.
This task has a rather minor priority at the present time.
2) Mechanical/electrical/software issues.
No apparent problems have been found so far in mechanical work-flow.
Maybe during the next visit of Marco and Aitor they should show me which
mechanical parts of the mount and the dome need regular care, perhaps I
should apply some oil on some parts from time to time.
One electrical problem has had place initially, but it seems that it is
solved by now. During rainy days with strong winds there was an
electrical shortcut on the dome, and continuation of work was possible
only after it properly dried. One day I had noticed a defect part of a
dome wheel which was probably touching the wet surface and thus lead the
electrical current to the bolts of the dome basement. After I've removed
that defect part there have been no electrical shortcuts so far,
nevertheless we still need to monitor that issue, because there were no
heavy storms again, but the prediction is rather positive, I'd say.
Also, there is still one fuse switch at the entrance door of our
building which still should be replaced, as was pointed out by Marco
during the last visit in October. Recently, a multi-extension-plug which
was used for both UPSs has burnt for unknown reason, luckily there was a
second one here to serve as a replacement; hence, it would be good if
you bring a new one just for the case, if the current multi-plug will
burn suddenly, too. Also, once I had to replace the burnt light bulb in
the control room, and to do that I had to search for spare light bulbs
in the big building, again luckily I could find one, so please bring a
couple of light bulbs during the next visit.
There are no pressing software problems at the moment. Only from time to
time there are some minor problems with the controlling PC, but usually
they could be solved without much effort. Also, maybe later I will have
to request Aitor to configure the controlling PC in such a way, that all
new images from the CCD are immediately transferred to the processing
PC, because there is only 8GB of free space on controlling PC's hard
drive; at the moment I manually move files during the observation which
is not a problem for me at least now.
3) Remote observations.
Of course, it would be great if we could succeed in making remote
observations possible. Right now it is still hard to say if it will be
possible, we need some more time to watch how the entire setup works.
But I can doubtlessly say, that we would need at least an all-sky camera
installed somewhere on the fence of the roof of our building so that a
remote observer could see from its images if the sky is really clear, I
would never trust the cloud and rain sensors alone. And the other point
is strictly speaking described above: the electrical issues; if it will
come out that they are still not solved, then remote observations will
remain questionable. So, I will keep an eye on all things here and maybe
some time next year we will know more.
4) Living.
My living conditions in the big building are more or less acceptable.
There are only three handicaps there: there is no washing machine (I
have to wash clothes by hand in a bucket), the electrical environment is
unstable (I have spent three weeks without refrigerator and it is still
not repaired, tomorrow I will contact the mayor again), there is no hot
water in the kitchen.
From December 1st till December 18th I will be away to Germany (I need
to renew my passport), after I come back I will stay in Castelgrande
till the mid of February.
I plan to entirely move from Germany to Castelgrande and currently with
the help of mayor's team I try to clarify some questions, like, to find
a one-room-flat in the village which I would rent, etc. I cant say for
sure yet when I will become a registered resident of Castelgrande, but
it could happen already this winter.
5) Observation request.
If you need any positional observations for any particular satellite of
special interest to GAUSS, just let me know in advance.
Well, all in all I would say that we have had a good start and let's
continue our progress! I hope I havent missed any important topics here,
but you are welcome to ask any questions or give comments.
With best regards
Sergio