CHPO
Claude H. Pomeroy Observatory
Beaver, Utah
Mission statement
This telescope facility will be used to do real science along with exposing the youth of Beaver County and anyone else, that wants to explore the mechanics and the science of astronomy. We are building the CHPO as a small scale, large telescope facility. The dome will rotate on a carousel, with a concrete pier and steel mount. We will use an automated computer data collection system. As funding permits, we will obtain instrumentation to be used in the search for near earth objects.
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Construction Progress..........Click
Weather.........
Observing Schedule........
Maintenance Schedule......
Astro Photography...........
Perspective..........................
26 Nov 09
We got the telescope fired up Thanksgiving night. This was the first of many shake down runs. Focus on point sources leaves a bit to be desired, but fixable. Polar alignment is off by 2 degrees in elevation and needs some tweaking in azmuth. Tracking was good and I stayed on the moon for 15 minutes. I took a picture of the moon, camera lens to eyepice. Not the best way to do it, but I thought I would post it.
Unofficial first light
13 November 2009 (Friday)
2nd Snow of the winter
The 2nd snow brought cold this time. The temp got down to 16 F last night. Before I can install the framing for the shutter, we need warmer weather. The plastic in the dome is too brittle to clamp and form and glue won't adhere well in the cold. I'm getting a propane heater to help warm things up a bit and hopefully next week the weather will be more acceptable. Weather data is hard to get with a frozen anemometer
16 degrees doesn't help either.
2nd Snow of the winter
The 2nd snow brought cold this time. The temp got down to 16 F last night. Before I can install the framing for the shutter, we need warmer weather. The plastic in the dome is too brittle to clamp and form and glue won't adhere well in the cold. I'm getting a propane heater to help warm things up a bit and hopefully next week the weather will be more acceptable. Weather data is hard to get with a frozen anemometer
16 degrees doesn't help either.
The Good Guys
Many thanks to the following businesses in Southern Utah for all the help in getting us underway. Each of them has given of their service and financial support freely and in many cases at the right moment, to keep us on track.
79 N Main Suite 2
Cedar City, UT 84720
435-586-8701
Fax: 435-867-8135
I can't say enough about Mountain West. They have been keeping me up and running for over 10 years.
See Roger or Aaron for your computer needs. The service there is the best anywhere.
http://www.mw-computers.com/
I pled my case to several companies, "The Biggest", thinking they would jump on board to help us out.
All I got was phone numbers that nobody answered. When I went into the South Central office in Cedar City, not only did I get a friendly
reception, they offered their help, not a phone number. We now have wireless internet at the CHPO. Click on the logo for all your
communication needs from internet to tv. They have it all.
http://www.scwireless.com
Fishlake Lumber Company