Observing - The Robinson Observatory Upgrade

The Robinson Observatory has been a major part of the history of CFAS. The facility came into being because of the efforts of the early members of CFAS who not only had the vision of bringing the Tinsley 26 inch Schmidt telescope to the UCF campus, but brought that dream into a reality. These early CFAS members convinced the Robinson family to make a substantial donation that provided the seed funding for the construction of the observatory. They then had the Tinsley telescope brought to UCF from the University of Florida where it was completely restored and assembled in the Robinson Observatory. This significant effort took several years, and stands as a tribute to CFAS members Rob Pickman, Bob Peterson, Dave Hearn, Frank Sperl, Eric Hoin, and others who participated in bringing this excellent facility on line in 1995. Throughout the following years CFAS has played a major role in maintaining the telescope systems, and through an agreement with the university has enjoyed the weekend use of this telescope. Besides use as a teaching telescope the Tinsley has been used for public viewing events sponsored by the UCF Astronomy club and CFAS. Even though the Tinsley is out of commission the UCF Astronomy club still hosts (weather permitting) public viewing on the first and third Wednesdays of each month utilizing smaller portable telescopes at the Robinson site.

Over the past several years however the Tinsley Telescope has suffered many failures to its electronic and mechanical drive systems. The Tinsley, a product of the 1960's technology, has reached the end of its useful life, and is now in need of a major overhaul. It is no longer useable as a research grade instrument without a complete upgrade of its electronic and mechanical drive systems. UCF has conducted a detailed review of the available options, and has concluded that the best affordable alternative is to replace the Tinsley with a modern telescope system. This proposal was submitted to the new College of Sciences, and was subsequently approved and funded for this fiscal year. UCF student and CFAS member, Paul Gardner, has been placed in charge of developing the project, and in fact, a graduate degree program has been designed around Paul's work in bringing this new telescope into operation. These are exciting times for CFAS and the university's astronomy program.

So you may ask: What is this new system and what will the full project encompass? In short, it is a complete removal and replacement of the Tinsley and its mount. Tinsley will be replaced by a modern 20 inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope on a computer controlled German equatorial mount. The observatory dome will be upgraded for full automatic operation. Research grade CCD cameras will be installed on the telescope. The entire facility will be able to be remotely operated over the internet. All existing local lighting problems will be corrected. Delivery of the new telescope will probably take the better part of a year. If necessary, the 14 inch Meade telescope will be used in the interim to test out the system. After the new systems are fully operational research work can be commenced. We can expect a formal scheduling system will be implemented to control telescope usage.

Presently the ultimate fate of the Tinsley has not been determined. Hopefully a new owner can be found for this remarkable instrument. Regretfully the telescope may have to be placed in storage until a new home is found.

CFAS has been asked to assist in this new major undertaking. We will assist in the removal of the Tinsley, and in support of the installation of the new telescope system. CFAS members who wish to participate in this project should contact Tom Chitty. A full schedule of events will be published as soon as it is developed.

Once the telescope system is in operation, CFAS members will again be able to qualify as Robinson Operators. This will be an entirely new program, and will be significantly more technical than the previous program. CFAS members will be able to assist in research programs conducted by the university, and once qualified, will be able to request telescope time for projects of their own. This truly opens up a whole new chapter for the operation of the Robinson Observatory and the continuing role that CFAS will play in its future operation.

Ray Jones