Dear Edgardo, dear Jose,
With some delay, I would like to wish you good luck, health and prosperity in New Year 2010 and in the same time, to remind you about our proposal that was sent in March 11, 2009 and then was discussed by Boris Satovski in May.
BTW, I prepared some article for my web site about visit of Boris to El Roble, but it is in Russian:
Soviet telescope in Chile
http://lfvn.astronomer.ru/news/2009/05/0001/index.htmSo, we obtained grant which will allow to us to purchase CCD camera with chip of 50mmx50mm (2000x2000 pxels of 24 microns) and arrange expedition in Chile. Field of view of AZT-16 with FLI PL4301E will be about 1.5x1.5 degree.
Also we fixed specialists in optics and telescope mechanics that can produce and install additional lens in AZT-16 to provide it's work with CCD camera.
Therefore I would like to start the discussion of future plans, if our proposal is insteresting for you still.
I propose the following plan of activities:
1. We discuss the agreement between our organizations (i.e. it may be between your University and my Keldysh Institute of Applied mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences) about joint modernization of El Roble observatory.
We would like to have 50% observation time of AZT-16 and 70% observation time of two or three other telescopes that may be installed in separate small pavilion (it may be 40 - 50 cm, 30 - 35 cm and 25 cm telescopes) for the goals of space debris, asteroids (searching NEA and NEA photometry) and gamma-ray bursts researches.
2. Three persons from my side will be visiting your University and El Roble to sign agreement and to remove some necessary part of AZT-16 for modernization. I.e. we can plan our first visit in May.
During this visit, our technicians can provide report abour current status of telescope and we can plan future steps.
3. My side purchase CCD camera and provide producing of lens and other parts for AZT-16, your side arrange re-aluminization of main mirror. Also we arranged the building of small pavilion in El Roble for other telescopes.
4. we arrange second trip of my team specialists which bring CCD camera and lens for AZT-16, and first telescope, i.e. 25-cm ORI-25, for installation and start of trial observations with AZT-16 and ORI-25.
(here you can see ORI-25 telescope installed by my team in Tarija, Bolivia, in October of 2009:
http://lfvn.astronomer.ru/news/2009/11/0002/index.htm here is similar telescope installed near Rome in Italy
http://lfvn.astronomer.ru/news/2009/12/0001/index.htm )
5. We discussed future steps for automatization AZT-16 and installation of other telescopes.
Please let me know your opinion about this plan.
Best regards,
Igor
