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New Mexico Skies currently has six separate permanent observatories, as pictured at the
top of the page, plus an assortment of telescopes along with many accessories such as CCD
cameras and various guiders.
 
The first three of our observatories are housed in individual 12' clamshell domes by Astro
Haven. These Astro Haven domes have two major advantages over other types of observatory
domes:
(1) They are roomy and comfortable for 3-4 people. They can be partially opened to provide
wind shielding, but even fully opened, the 4' high walls provide wind insulation.
(2) Thermal equilibrium is reached rapidly with a fully open dome. The "open to the full
sky" concept the clamshell shares with a roll-off roof eliminates the seeing-destroying
thermal currents often associated with slotted/rotating domes. And, unlike a roll-off, the
sky is not obscured by the parked roof.
 
The Dome 4 observatory is housed in a 10' rotating Pro-Dome by Technical Innovations, which
is very effective in its own right. For imaging in high winds, the slotted Pro-Dome is certainly
the best choice.
All of the observatories at New Mexico Skies have permanent telescopes mounted on concrete/steel
piers that are solidly attached to bedrock and isolated from the observatory floor. The
concrete/steel pier assemblies are truly massive, weighing in at 2-3 tons, and are pinned
and bonded directly to bedrock. The steel piers are tuned with sand to be non-resonant.
120-volt ground fault protected power outlets are provided at every pier.
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You are welcome to bring your own
equipment. In addition to two guest pads, there is plenty
of set up space available with patio blocks, and we provide
electricity. While we will be glad to prepare star charts
for you, we do not provide piers, mounts, tripods or other accessories, or instruction on how to set up and/or
use your own equipment. Please plan on deploying your equipment
before dark, and bring weatherproof protective covering for
it. We do not provide set up space or equipment to those not
staying with us. |
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Dome 1 houses a Takahashi Mewlon-300 on a Bisque
Paramount ME. This telescope is used exclusively for CCD imaging
with an SBIG STL-11000M CCD camera. The telescope can be controlled
from the dome or from the remote imaging center in the library.
Dome 2 contains a Meade 16" LX200 computer-controlled
telescope, custom modified with a Software Bisque MKS 4000 telescope
control system for superior pointing and tracking. This telescope,
like the one in Dome 1, is controlled using CCDSoft software and T-Point.
The 16" is dedicated to CCD imaging using
an SBIG ST-2000XCM color CCD camera. Dome 2 may also be optionally
controlled from the remote imaging lab.
Dome 3 has a fabulous Takahashi FCT-150
triplet flourite Apochromatic refractor. It is used at f/5.0
with an SBIG STL-11000CM CCD camera.
Big Dome contains an unparalleled .6 meter (24.5")
at f/10 RCOS Ritchey-Chretien truss tube telescope mounted on a
RCOS Fork Mount. The camera is an SBIG STL-1001E camera The telescope
is equipped with an Instrument Rotator. This telescope is dedicated
to advanced CCD imaging and is only available to experienced imagers.
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Dome 4 and Pad 6 is an equatorially mounted 11" Celestron
CPC GOTO (visual use only). The forte of this telescope is its instant "GOTO"
operation. This makes visual observing effortless and great
fun; ideal for the beginner as well as more advanced astronomers. |
Pads 5 is the homes for our BIG Dobs: a 25" f/4.0 Galaxy mirror/ AstroSystems Telekit and a 15" f/4.0 Pegasus mirror/AstroSystems
Telekit. Each of our big Dobsonians is equipped with a Telrad and Sky Commander digital
setting circles. The Sky Commanders make finding faint fuzzies extremely easy, and we'll
teach you how to use them as part of your telescope rental. Pad 6 is home for our 30" NTT GOTO folded Newtonian.
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One of our specialities at New Mexico Skies is helping you learn
the art of CCD imaging.
