The northernmost dome atop Robinson houses a Celestron 14-inch telescope. This instrument is used for undergraduate classes and labs (such as Ay1 during spring term), and is also available for general stargazing and sky-surfing by authorized members of the Caltech and JPL community. A selection of eyepieces is available for eyeball observing, and a Meade Pictor 216XT CCD can be mounted at Cassegrain for all your digital imaging needs.

In addition, a Celestron 10-inch has been installed at the higher altitudes of the Downs rooftop. This instrument was kindly donated to the department by the estate of the Reverend Francis E. Bloy. Downs roof does appear to be better shielded from nearby streetlights and campus security lights, so the sky background may be noticably lower. This site is now available for authorized users.

We have also annexed two portable telescopes that were floating around the department: a 8-inch Celestron, and a 4-inch Questar. Either can be checked out by RDRO members to take to remote observing sites.

RDRO is currently under the management of Lewis Kotredes, ltk@astro.caltech.edu. Please contact him to join the user list, report problems or suggestions regarding the roof scopes, or anything else.

Available documentation includes:

• User procedures:
  • How to join RDRO
  • How to reserve or sign out a telescope

• General information:
  • Suggested observing targets

• C-14 telescope:
  • Setup
  • Eyeball observing
  • Shutdown
  • Warnings

• Pictor CCD:
  • Setup
  • Imaging
  • Shutdown

• C-10 telescope:
  • Setup
  • Observing
  • Shutdown
  • Warnings

• Portable scopes:
  • C-8 setup & shutdown
  • Questar setup & shutdown

Selections from our CCD and film imaging galleries:

• Color imaging with the Pictor by Edward Little
• Pioneering CCD work by Vit Hadrecky
• Random and poorly-indexed CCD and film images by Bradford Behr