User:Nashwan Islam/sandbox

Observatory report:-

Being the largest telescope till date in the border of Northern Virginia, the Richey-Cassegrain telescope was built in 2011 for an accumulated sum of $300,000, and having a diameter of 32 inches.

The timing of our tour was on 6th September, 2023, around 9pm. We were welcomed inside an open-domed in person tour, where tour guides and other officials of the GMU faculty welcomed us with open arms. The name of our tour guide was Terron Kelley and being a really charismatic and dedicated faculty member, he navigated us towards the underlying mysteries concerning the sophisticated functions and details of the manufacturing of the entire telescope. Having a CCD camera, coupled with 7 distinct filter and being sound sensitive, the telescope synchronizing with the motion of the Earth's movement, has the ability to track things with a rotating dome,, at a sidereal rate, meaning it is able to track the object with the rate of Earth's rotation. Along with its ability as a tracker, with those unique filters manufactured within the telescope, it enables the telescope to look at different pictures with each of its filters. The CCD camera paired with a computer and the telescope, the electronic device embedded inside the telescope enables it to switch modes from eye piece to the CCD camera, and during this time as light comes in, it hits through a series of mirrors or reflector telescopes which bounces the light. First, the light passes through the primary mirror, which is parabolic shaped disks of polished refractive mirrors, followed by the secondary mirror which is used to bounce the light gathered by the primary mirror into an eyepiece and extend the length of the light, following to the tertiary, which directs the telescope image to the instrument of the Nasmyth platform. Last but not the least, light is passed through those 7 filters separately, with each filter illustrating a unique and different view of our planets and stars in the night sky. As we combine each of these separate images, altered by each of those filters, we get a net image with a completely clear and precise visualization of our night sky.In order to enhance our sight further, there is also an eye piece and a focuser in order for us to get the best pictures. Last but not the least, there is also a cooling system similar to a computer, that cools the electronic parts, thus preventing them from overheating as excess heat has the potential to disrupt the accumulated images, enabling researchers to provide misinformation via falsified and inaccurate data.

Using this sophisticated piece of equipment, researchers and scientists undergo NASA test missions, and the data accumulated through those missions enables scientists to look for potential exoplanets, that can support life. Studying the brightness of the astronomical bodies, graphs are illustrated where they measure the intensity or brightness of a body in our solar system, and calculating this change in brightness as it orbits enables scientists to identify it and mark it as an exoplanet. The faculty does want to upgrade the telescope, but as light pollution caused by temperature, smoke, and humidity is an ongoing issue, the research team s struggling for further progress. One solution of this as suggested by one of their faculty members during the visit, was manufacturing lamps that direct light downwards. Speaking of sight, in order for our eyes to adjust even better for the night sky, red light is used as it has a long wavelength, enabling it to be friendlier to our eyes.

As we advanced further into the tour, our tour guide showed us another telescope named Celestron, having an 8 inch diameter, which was small and used for commercial purposes only, followed by a solar telescope and a RC telescope. Along with these equipments, we were also enlightened about the various applications and software that are used in the control room, such as the Kultiple-X with an app named SKY-X that enables us to get a live view of the night sky above us, followed by the Perseus application which commands the telescope to input information upon where we want to direct light.

This experience is definitely the highlight of myAstronomy course, and I am profoundly impressed with the care, enthusiasm, passion, and welcomeness of the faculty members who have encouraged the students to learn more and stir up their curiosity, and given the fact upon how impressed I am with the visit, I am definitely planning for a second one in the near future.