Equipment

The Telescope

The central instrument of MACRO is an f/6.8 Cassegrain Reflector with 0.51m primary mirror and Dall-Kirkham correction lens.

The model number is CDK20, manufactured by PlaneWave.

The telescope is located at Winer Observatory in Sonoita, Arizona.

The Mount

The telescope is mounted on a Mathis M700 equatorial fork mount with high-resolution encoders which enable precise tracking over long exposures.

The Camera

An SBIG Aluma AC4040 CMOS, front-illuminated class 2 camera is used to capture light from as low as 22 magnitude objetcs

The Filters

An FLI CFW3-12 filter wheel containing 10 photometric filters and an 830 lpmm grism is placed between the telescope and the camera to capture the most amount of a certain color of light as possible.

RBG filters allow users to recreate true color images, while spectrometers allow users to identify the composition of a celestial object by measuring discrete wavelengths.

The GRISM

A compact GRISM patented and invented by Professor Robert L. Mutel and student Dominic Ludovici is installed within the filter wheel to provide spectra to users.