Vatican’s flagship telescope transformed into fully automated robotic telescope

In a press release on Thursday, 4 July, the Vatican Observatory announced that its Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (vatt) “has been transformed into a fully automated, robotic telescope”. Located on Mount Graham in Arizona, the telescope now has an automated control system built by the Czech engineering firm, ProjectSoft HK. The new system was given the name “Don” in honour of Donald M. Alstadt. “Don” system’s software is designed “to remain stable regardless of computer updates”, and “will steer the telescope’s mount, pointing the vatt with high precision-3 seconds of arc (rms)”. Capable of tracking celestial objects for 20 minutes “with excellent precision without guiding”, the system will also control a weather station, the telescope dome and the dome slit shutters, the oil system for the mount’s hydraulic bearings, and the ...