Quierschieder Weg 38, 66280 Sulzbach anfrage@apm-telescopes.de

APM Professional Telescopes

1m F/8 Ritchey Chrétien with dual Nasmyth Foci, Cape Town (South Africa)

Another large telescope for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). An 1m F/8 Alt-Az mounted Ritchey Chrétien for robotic use. It has dual Nasmyth Foci. The main telescopes used for research are located at the SAAO observing station (32°22.795’S 20°48,657’E) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape, a 4-hour drive from Cape Town.

Astronomy is our job

Observatory Telescopes

Big prime focus telescopes for private or public observatories including installation and full service.

Robotic / Remote

Robotic instruments for automatic imaging or telescopes for remote observation.

UVEX Spectrograph

Uvex Spectrograph

The UVEX is a “crossed” Czerny-Turner spectroscope optimized for wavelengths from near UV (<350nm) to near IR (1µm).

More

Diffraction Limited CCD Kameras

Aluma CCD 695 a

Our most popular camera, the SBIG Aluma AC4040 is a large format Scientific CMOS camera, featuring a 16.8 megapixel sensor with 9 micron pixels. The camera is compatible with the StarChaser SC-4 Guider and optional AO-X Adaptive Optics accessories.

Diffraction Limited Overview

Astroshell Dome 4.25 m

CLAMSHELL DOMES provide an unparalleled 360/180 degree field of view for an absolutely breathtaking nighttime experience. When this observatory dome opens, you are truly among the stars!

More

Product enquiries

Inquiry now

Please make your enquiries about the products you require here. We will contact you as soon as possible with a customised quote.

Telescopes

ASA UWF300 f1.3 Ultra Wide Field telescope

One of the fastest telescopes of the world!

The UWF300 f1.3. telescope offers a groundbreaking optical design and is ideal for short exposure, high SNR wide field surveys. The main mirror works with absolute encoder feedback and can be collimated fully electronic for an easy and fast remote collimation.

UWF300 Optical Layout

The UWF300 uses a prime focus configuration. The main mirror is a high order asphere and in the prime focus we use a 5 Lens corrector to correct any field aberrations in a wavelength range from 400nm to 700nm.
With the ultra short focal length and wide field it is the ideal telescope for fast sky surveys searching for brighter objects. The resolution with modern small pixel CMOS is nevertheless surprisingly high even with such a short focal length. It can also be arranged in arrays on our DDM mounts.

Optional DDM100 Mount

Since the back focus is restricted, ASA can offer suitable CMOS/CCD cameras for this system. As with all these ultrafast systems, the system has to be optimized and assembled for a certain filter thickness. While other manufacturers will not care about filter thickness, we do know, that in a f/1.3 light beam even a flat medium with a refractive index <>1 causes spherical aberration which has to be included in the optical design for perfect image quality. The corrector is of course coated with a multi layer AR coating. *1) The field of view is given as diameter for which the performance was optimized. Since there exist no circular sensors, we often recommend to use a CCD with larger diagonal, since this allows a better usage of the optimized field.

Optional ASA DDM100

Inquire now Datasheet UWF300_f1.3

Optical performance

erläuterung

As the below image demonstrates, the UWF300 reaches a unprecedented resolution for a telescope in the 400mm focal length range and shows details and first bright stars in M31 even in 10s exposures)

Mechanics

The closed full tube is made of carbon fiber and includes a light shroud. The main mirror can be collimated fully electronic to allow an easy and fast remote collimation. The electronics for the collimation and focusing is attached to the tube. The total weight of the OTA is 31kg.

ASA UWF300 f1.3 Ultra Wide Field telescope

Technical Details

Electronic

Our closed loop direct drive systems, sensor technology and observatory safety modules play a major role in achieving optimum results. All moving accessory components are equipped with high-resolution encoders and closed-loop feedback systems. We provide event timer modules, and customer updatable firmware.

Optic

Only the best for your telescope!

We believe that the most important part in producing optics is the testing. So ASA decided that we invest in the best test equipment available, remove any measuring error as good as possible and use real values in our specifications.

Technologie

Our mounts are manufactured with the lastest CNC technology.

Software

Platform independent control software.

ASA/APM Services

Optional Tests for FAT/SAT

In case of special requirements ASA/APM offers (against surcharge) a number of additional and advanced systems tests exceeding the standard acceptance test procedures. Please review the options for additional, on-demand factory acceptance and site acceptance tests from ASA following the link below and customize the test setup for your new telescope system from ASA.

Installation package remote/on-site

To deliver the best performance, high end telescope systems need to be installed correctly. We offer a number of different installation services, ASA/APM remote support for customer self-setup and installation by ASA experts on site. Please review the options for installation and customize your mechanical service.

Setup and Alignement remote/on-site

To deliver the best performance, high end telescope systems need to be installed correctly. We offer a number of different installation services, ASA remote support for customer self-setup and installation by ASA/APM experts on site. Please review the options for installation and customize your mechanical service.

Engineering Image Train Package

ASA/APM offers tailored image train design services to accommodate the unique needs of our customers. This encompasses the initial stage of defining image train components such as correctors, off-axis guiders, filter wheels, and cameras.

Alternative mirror coating

To meet the highest optical standards, we design and produce all optical components in ASA optical laboratory. This gives us the ability to customize optical systems, as well as provide the customer with special IR range coatings as needed for laser ranging applications. (AL/IH10) up to mirror sizes of 1000 mm. See our related datasheets following the links below.

Projektconsulting/-management by ASA/APM

ASA has a broad international installed base in the field. Over the past 10 years, ASA/APM has collected broad professional experience in running telescope projects in a “one stop shop” complete service offer for customers. Our consultancy is based on our own long term experience in telscope, shipping, mountigmn, etc.

ASA Accessories

Remote package pro

Package for remote control and operational safety for your observatory equipped with an ASA telescope system.
The remote package contains an IP Camera mounted inside the Dome to remotely view the Telescope and an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). The IP Camera allows to always view the telescope orientation to give you situational awareness of the observatory status. The UPS allows the telescope to keep operating during shorter (<30sec) power interruptions and to safely park the telescope in the event of a longer power outage.

Weather station sensor package

Operational safety for your in different weather conditions.
This package contains sensors for sky and ambient temperature, rain and humidity and wind speed plus all necessary mounting material.
This package guaranties operational safety of your observatory in case of unsuitable or hazardous weather conditions. It also provides the operator with a web interface to monitor and log weather events.

All Sky Cam 0201171A

An Allsky Camera is a quality of life feature every Observatory should have, it vastly improves the ability to gauge the weather conditions and also generates time lapse videos for evaluation and advertisement. This package contains an Allsky Camera with 180° FOV and 3100×2100 Pixel sensor size plus all mounting material.

APM Professional Telescopes

1m F/8 Ritchey Chrétien with dual Nasmyth Foci, Cape Town (South Africa)

Another large telescope for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). An 1m F/8 Alt-Az mounted Ritchey Chrétien for robotic use. It has dual Nasmyth Foci. The main telescopes used for research are located at the SAAO observing station (32°22.795’S 20°48,657’E) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape, a 4-hour drive from Cape Town.