Welcome CHI-5, our new widest field refractor
We are proud to announce that a new telescope has been added to Telescope Live!
On top of CHI-1, 2, 3 and 4 at the El Sauce Observatory in the Rio Hurtado valley, Chile, you will now have access to CHI-5!
Images from CHI-5 will be offered as Pro Datasets, as One-Click Observations, and you also have the possibility to use it yourself by submitting an Advanced Request (see below some suggested targets).
It has been nicknamed the “Very Small Telescope” (VST) as its aperture is only 10 cm, but don’t be fooled, it’s equipped with a wide field camera lens (a Nikon 200 F/2 lens), so what it can observe - its field of view - is a pretty large portion of the sky, 473 x 378 arcmin (or 7.9 x 6.3 degrees).
Moreover, it can be used to observe in LRGB and narrowband filters, making it the ideal instrument to observe large nebulae, as you can see here below.
Still, a smaller telescope is cheaper to operate and so it will be the cheapest one for you to use – just 50 credits per hour. So, even if you’re not that familiar with Astrophotography, it’s worth getting started by trying to observe a nebula with our VST.
Such low cost makes it the perfect telescope for those who never dared to take a picture with our Advanced Requests!
Submit your Advanced Request here!
Otherwise, as part of your Bronze, Silver or Gold plan you can submit a One-Click Observation from CHI-5:
Submit a One Click Observation now!
With CHI-5, you can choose between various exposure times, 90, 180, 300 or 600 seconds, with a minimum cumulative exposure time of 30 minutes – this is usually enough to observe brighter objects, but for fainter targets you may consider increasing that observation length.
Note that on CHI-5 only Custom Scheduling is supported. With this scheduling mode, you will be able to choose the exact time of your observations, but, contrarily to Automated Scheduling, it means that if the date you choose leads to a failed run (due to weather or technical issues), you will be refunded and you have to resubmit it. However, you shouldn’t worry too much about the weather causing failed exposures, since in Rio Hurtado has one of the driest weather on Earth.
If you wish to find out more technical details about this new telescope you can have a look at the dedicated web page.
Astrophotography Targets for CHI-5
- Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)
- Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
- Vela supernova remnant
- IC 2177
- NGC 2244
- M 42
- NGC 1909
- IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
- NGC 292
- Barnard's Loop
Now that you’re acquainted with CHI-5, are you ready to submit an observation? Submit your advanced request now!