• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.67.3-68
• /
• 2018

We plan to automatize the operation of Kyung Hee Astronomical Observatory (KHAO) 76 cm Telescope by adapting KAOS30 (KHU Automatic Observing Software for McDonald 30 inch Telescope). The software is developed to improve the efficiency of the observation system for monitoring transients and variable sources. It has installed and operated at McDonald 30 inch telescope since 2017 August. KAOS76 (KHU Automatic Observing Software for KHAO 76 cm Telescope) consists of four packages: Telescope Control Package (TCP), Data Acquisition Package (DAP), Auto Focus Package (AFP), and Script Mode Package (SMP). Most of the packages can be configured by minimized modifications of the codes because it includes common libraries for FLI instruments and also ASCOM standard. TCP, DAP, and AFP control astronomical devices. SMP supports automatic observing in a script mode. TCP of KAOS76 can communicate with the TCS via ASCOM. Also, KAOS76 has an extra function to compensate the misalignment of the polar axis. In this poster, we show the current status of the observing system with KAOS76.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.211-220
• /
• 2000

Korea Astronomy Observatory(KAO) is working to retrofit its 1m robotic telescope in collaboration with a company (ACE, Astronomical Consultants & Equipment). The telescope system is being totally refurbished to make a fully automatic telescope which can operate in both interactive and fully autonomous robotic modes. Progress has been made in design and manufacturing of the telescope mount, mechanics, and optical performance system tests are being made for re-configured primary and secondary mirrors. The optical system is designed to collect 80% incident light within 0.5 arcsec with f/7.5 Ritchey-Chretien design. The telescope mount is an equatorial fork with a friction drive system. The design allows fully programmable tracking speeds with typical range of 15 arcsec/sec with accuracy of $\pm5$ arcsec/hour. The mount system has integral pointing model software to correct for refraction, and all mechanical errors and misalignments. The pointing model will permit positioning to better than 30 arcsec RMS within $75^{\circ}$ from zenith and 45 arcsec RMS elsewhere on the sky. The software is designed for interactive, remote and robotic modes of operation. In interactive and remote mode the user can manually enter coordinates or retrieve them from a computer file. In robotic mode the telescope controller downloads the coordinates in the order determined by the scheduler. The telescope will be equipped with a CCD camera and will be accessible via the internet.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.57.2-57.2
• /
• 2018

In astronomical observation, sequential device control and real-time data processing are important to maximize observing efficiency. We have developed series of automatic observing software (KAOS, KHU Automatic Observing Software), e.g. KAOS30 for the 30 inch telescope in the McDonald Observatory and KAOS76 for the 76 cm telescope in the KHAO. The series consist of four packages: the DAP (Data Acquisition Package) for CCD Camera control, the TCP (Telescope Control Package) for telescope control, the AFP (Auto Focus Package) for focusing, and the SMP (Script Mode Package) for automation of sequences. In this poster, we introduce KAOS10 which is being developed for controlling a small telescope such as aperture size of 10 cm. The hardware components are the QHY8pro CCD, the QHY5-II CMOS, the iOptron CEM 25 mount, and the Stellarvue SV102ED telescope. The devices are controlled on ASCOM Platform. In addition to the previous packages (DAP, SMP, TCP), KAOS10 has QLP (Quick Look Package) and astrometry function in the TCP. QHY8pro CCD has RGB Bayer matrix and the QLP transforms RGB images into BVR images in real-time. The TCP includes astrometry function which adjusts the telescope position by comparing the image with a star catalog. In the future, We expect KAOS10 be used on the research of transient objects such as a variable star.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.72.3-72.3
• /
• 2019

The observation of transient objects such as supernovae or variable stars requires a survey of the wide sky and quickly extracting the results. In accordance with this purpose, we have been developing an automatic observing software, KAOS (Kyung Hee University Automatic Observing Software) as a series. KAOS30 was the first series of KAOS and it was applied to the 30-inch platform at the McDonald Observatory in the United States of America. KAOS76 controls the 76-cm telescope at Kyung Hee Astronomical Observatory. In this poster, we introduce KAOS10 for controlling a portable telescope with a small aperture size attaching a guiding camera as QHY-5L II. Kyung Hee University auto-guiding package which includes the auto-guiding function for small aperture size telescope was also developed. Additionally, the Telescope Control Package(TCP) can communicate with the main server to do astrometry for pointing and identifying targets efficiently. KAOS10 has a universal interface that will be useful for the research of both amateurs and professionals.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.57-73
• /
• 1996

As a continuing effort to develop an automatic control system for small telescope, we developed the software for telescope control and CCD observations under DOS operating system. For accurate pointing of the telescope in short amount of time, we modelled the angular speed of the telescope by aquadratic function of time (constant acceleration) for the first 15 second and then linear function of time (zero acceleration) aftwewards. By changing the telescope speed from 'slew' to 'fine' before the telescope reaches the desired position, we could achieve the accuracy of a few arcsecond. The CCD control software was written for model CCD-10 of CCD Technology. This CCD can be used for guiding purposes. We also conducted the study for remote control of the telescope using telephone line. Although it cannot be used for real observations at the present form, we succeded in remotely pointing the telescope to desired direction. As faster communication technologies become widely available, simple observations can be made remotely in the near future. Finally we report some observational results made with the present control system.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.431-444
• /
• 2007

An automatic system of 36 cm telescope for the Web Based astronomy education was developed. The tracking accuracy of this system was about 1"/min. The pointing accuracy was ${\pm}10"$ in the right ascension direction, ${\pm}20"$ in the declination direction. These results will be improved continuously. The results of IRAF image analysis for the pilot observation data were stable, which means that this remote astronomical observation system is suitable f3r the education of astronomical observation.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2006

An automatic observation system has been constructed at Chungbuk National University for the purpose of monitoring the bright and long period variable stars effectively. We improved the control part of 40cm telescope of the LX200 and developed n observing software ObsTool II so that the telescope, CCD camera and dome can be controlled in one software. ObsTool II is a COM (Common Object Module) based software, which can be easily reprogrammed in case that a new telescope or CCD camera is installed. Because this system has an additional function in which the telescope can switch the variable, comparison, and check stars respectively as like a photoelectric observation, we can observe the variable star even if the CCD view field does not contain the comparison star with the variable star. In order to check the system stability a W UMa type variable V523 Cas and a magnetic cataclysmic variable TT Ari have been observed with the constructed system and the results have been discussed in context with the possibility of a further application of our automatical observation system.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.49.3-49.3
• /
• 2021

The 76 cm telescope in Kyung Hee Astronomical Observatory is participating in the small telescope network of the SomangNet project, which started in 2020. Since the installation of the telescope in 1992, the system configuration has been changed several times. The optical system of this telescope has a Ritchey-Chrétien configuration with 76 cm in diameter and the focal ratio is f/7. The mount is a single fork equatorial type and its control system is operated by TheSkyX software. We use a science camera with a 4k × 4k CCD and standard Johnson-Cousins UBVRI filters, which cover a field of view of 23.7 × 23.7 arcmin. We are also developing the Kyung Hee Automatic Observing Software for the 76 cm telescope (KAOS76) for efficient operations. In this work, we present the standard star calibration results, the current status of the system, and the expected science capabilities.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.57.1-57.1
• /
• 2017

Automatic observing is the most efficient system for sky surveys that image many targets over large areas of the sky. Such a system requires the integrating control software that systematically manages astronomical instruments that are not connected to each other. In February of 2017, we installed a wide-field 10 inch telescope for Supernovae survey on the McDonald 30 inch telescope as a piggyback system. However, during the observations, information such as target coordinates could not be exchanged with the telescope mount. The reason is the program that controls the telescope control system (TCS) and the program that controls the imager operate on independent PCs. KAOS30 is an integrated observing software developed to improve this environment. The software is composed of four packages that are the Telescope Control Package (TCP), the Data Acquisition Package (DAP), the Auto Focus Package (AFP), and the Script Mode Package (SMP). The TCP communicates to the TCS and also communicates weather information. SMP supports automatic observing in a script mode, which improves the efficiency of the survey. KAOS30 was developed based on Visual C ++ and runs on the Windows operating system. It also supports the ASCOM driver platform for various manufacturers. The instruments that support ASCOM can be installed without modification of the program code. KAOS30 can be applied as software for many different telescopes in future projects.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2003

We constructed the photometric observation system with a small semi-automatic telescope for the systematic observations of eclipse timings of eclipsing binary stars. The system is consisted of a Paramount GT-1100s mount system, a Celestron 14 optical system, and a SBIG ST-8 camera. We developed the OBSTOOL S/W which controls the telescope and the CCD camera using the COM(Component Object Model) supported by the softwares, The Sky and MaximDL. The system performs photometric observations of a variable, comparison and check stars by moving the telescope to the chosen star separately in a similar way such as the method of photoelectric observation. We wrote pert scripts which enable a data handling pipeline for the obtained data to be classified by each of date, object and filter. And thus the images are easily preprocessed using the IRAF S/W package. Eclipse light curves of some eclipsing binary stars observed with this system are presented.