About the telescope
Remote Ondrejov Section Telescope (ROST)
In 2024, the Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of the CAS (SPHE ČAS) commissioned a remote-controlled telescope located at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ASU CAS) in Ondřejov. Due to its ease of operation, it is used by amateur astronomers and students, while also being capable of acquiring scientifically accurate photometric data of variable stars and exoplanets, which professional astronomers utilize to obtain valuable data for numerous research projects.
A Newtonian telescope with a carbon tube and a 305 mm diameter mirror is housed in an enclosure with a remote-controlled roof. The G4-16000 CCD camera (Moravian Instruments) has a resolution of 4k x 4k pixels and a field of view of 90×90 arcminutes. The telescope is mounted on an EQ8R Pro (Sky-Watcher) mount, and the entire setup (including the roof motor) is controlled by SIPS4 software (Moravian Instruments) with the WebSIPS tool, which runs on a RESTful API interface, allowing the observer to use only a web browser. The setup includes many features that enhance the observation quality – a 3″ TeleVue Paracorr corrector, a C1-3000 guiding camera (Moravian Instruments), a focuser, a weather station, and a context camera.
None of this would have been possible without the dedicated work of several individuals, financial donations, organizational support, infrastructure, and facilities. Great thanks go to the Astronomical Institute of the CAS, which allowed us to use their premises and facilities, especially the Solar Department, for which ROST primarily observes stellar flares. Furthermore, thanks to Moravian Instruments, where the software development took place and where many important components originated. To the Czech Astronomical Society, which enabled us to purchase the mount, and to Amateur Sky Watch, which purchased the mirror and photometric filters. The telescope thus also serves the Astronomical Expedition and the education of young astronomers, providing data for student projects.
Since November 2024, the telescope has been fully operational via WebSIPS and is used by several observers for independent observation; training sessions or online observation streams take place every month.
Main objectives include:
- Exoplanets
- Campaigns
- Eruptive stars
