Online Otis Robotic Cyber Space Telescope
I'm working on restoring the original remote Otis Robotic Cyber Space GOTO Telescope which operated by internet on the full number of Messier objects plus some selected objects like the Horsehead Nebula.
The original GOTO telescope was programmed by Mike Otis in HTML and included the ability to image the night sky from anywhere in the world, with a good internet connection. It included a sky computer with star maps for all available sky objects with its capabilities. It held a database for accessing objects with both coordinates and data. A weather radar scanned the skies. A page detailed programming, operations, and a photo of the telescope. One page covered methods for going online with other telescopes and links were provided for programming your own remote telescope. Imaging took place with a choice of two imaging cameras, a black & white SBIG ST4 and a color Connectix. The telescope observatory was maintained by mobile robot droids that tasked the mini observatory opening and closing, camera choices and parameters such as oculars. The best features of the ORCST was its fast response time, the ability to capture and present an image in real time, and capability to image all Messier objects plus a few selected objects like the Horsehead Nebula. When one hemisphere telescope was under cloudy skies or busy, the other hemisphere telescope could take over. The telescope also had a novel hidden "land mode" for camera testing. The internet telescope was popular with schools, universities, observatories and was used by professional and amateur astronomers.
