Vantage Pro Helps Amateur Astronomer

A Vantage Pro weather station is a very important piece of equipment for the JAT Observatory.

Marcus Thompson, an amateur astronomer, sent us this story about his observatory, and its trusted sidekick, Vantage Pro.

“The JAT Observatory is a small, privately owned, amateur observatory located in Fairless Hills, PA. The observatory is a 2.3 meter diameter dome, constructed of fiberglass. The observatory houses a 254mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The telescope and dome are computer controlled and are mainly used for solar and lunar observation. From time to time, the observatory is also used for deep sky imaging.

“There are a number of weather related conditions that can affect the telescope and the observatory’s ability to function correctly. During observing sessions, it is very important that the dew point be monitored so moisture does not collect on the telescopes optics. This of course would have a negative affect on the telescope’s ability to see. When the observatory is being used to photograph deep space objects, like nebulas and globular clusters, the images are obtained via long exposure photography. The wind can cause vibrations of the telescope; those vibrations (if large enough) will affect the quality of the image. Temperature changes can require the focus of the telescope to be adjusted or the object being viewed or photographed will appear blurry. Extreme cold can cause the computerized hand box that controls to telescope to become sluggish; heaters need to be enabled to prevent this.

“The JAT Observatory uses the Vantage Pro to monitor the humidity, wind speed and direction, temperature and dew point. The temperature and humidity conditions inside the observatory are monitored using a Wireless Weather Envoy. The Envoy gathers the outside weather conditions such as wind speed and direction from the wireless station mounted nearby. This data is displayed in real-time on the observatory’s weather server using the Weatherlink software. The data is uploaded to the internet at regular intervals to the observatory’s website . In addition the data is also uploaded to the Citizen Weather Observers Program. CWOP data is collect from over 2500 weather stations around the world. The data is used by NOAA for their weather prediction models. The weather station is also used to let the observers know if they should wear a coat and gloves when they go stargazing.”

Thanks, Marcus!

More User Stories