Presenter(s): Maggie Thompson
Co Presenter(s): Odelia Hartl, Nicole Ringsdorf
Faculty Mentor(s): Scott Fisher
Visualization Lab 2 & 4 PSC
Located in central Oregon atop a 6500-foot peak, Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO) is an astronomical facility owned and operated by the UO Department of Physics. PMO is a hybrid research/outreach facility where UO students are deeply involved in projects that range from engineering and facility maintenance to making research-grade observations and data analysis. In particular, the size of the telescopes at PMO makes it well-suited for undergraduate research programs. In the last two years many UO undergraduates have worked at PMO to bring our newest telescope online. This robotic telescope, named ‘The Robbins’ after a generous benefactor, has been designed from the ground up to be operated remotely from the UO campus in Eugene.
Although we are still in the process of upgrading the internet connection to PMO to allow routine remote observing, in this presentation we will demonstrate the software programs that will be used when we have a live connection to the facility. Additionally, we will be demonstrating commercial and custom-written software packages that are used to reduce, calibrate, and analyze astronomical data. Our goal for this unique session of the symposium is to introduce visitors to PMO and the projects that our undergraduates are leading at their astronomical observatory.