COMPACT is the Observatory Station with dome designed by PrimaLuceLab for users searching a remotely operated, affordable and easy to use instrument for astronomy outreach, education and astrophotography. This complete astronomical observatory is composed by an Alt-Az mount installed on pier for concrete base, supporting an optical telescope with ESATTO focuser and ARCO rotator, cooled camera able to capture deep-sky and planetary objects. As optional, COMPACT Observatory Station allows you to install another telescope in parallel with camera to provide a different field of view. Telescope is remotely controlled and powered with the EAGLE control unit and it’s provided with PLAY software providing the easiest way to control it. COMPACT Observatory Station is provided with 2 meter diameter motorized dome. Our design team is able to personalize the COMPACT Observatory Station based on your application needs. Thanks to its compact size and pre-assembled structure, we can ship the COMPACT Observatory Station all over the World and we can also offer Installation and Training Services at an affordable price. This makes the COMPACT Observatory Station a great solution for astronomy education, outreach and even astrophotography!
Thanks to all the technologies developed by PrimaLuceLab for remote control and power of optical telescopes, COMPACT Observatory Station is most affordable remotely controlled astronomical observatory that can be used for for astrophotography and astronomy outreach. We are able to customize the telescopes and cameras according to your application and budget, contact us for a personalized quote.
COMPACT optical Observatory Station with dome - main features:
- Optical telescope with cooled camera with possibility to install a second telescope in parallel to provide a different FoV - Alt-Az mount with automatic slewing and tracking of astronomical objects - Pier for concrete base - High load capacity ESATTO robotic focuser - ARCO rotator to provide automatic field de-rotation - GIOTTO smart flat field generator to record calibration frames - ALTO telescope cover motor to use GIOTTO as a remotely controlled motorized cap - EAGLE control unit to remotely control and power all the devices - 2 meter diameter motorizeddome synchronised with telescope position - PLAY software to control the entire Observatory Station and capture pictures
PLAY is the astrophotography software developed by PrimaLuceLab in order to record beautiful pictures of the night sky in the simpler way! PLAY includes many features needed for astrophotography and it allows you to configurate your telescope by selecting OTA and mount provided with ASCOM drivers (tested with ASCOM platform 6.5 and later), control focus with ESATTO or SESTO SENSO 2 and camera rotation with ARCO.
COMPACT optical Observatory Station - ScopeDome 2M dome:
COMPACT optical Observatory Station comes with ScopeDome 2M, the perfect dome for compact telescopes that offers a 2 meter diameter and 59cm wide shutter. This dome is very simple to install since it's delivered to you already assembled and, thanks to the H120 tower, the internal height reaches 260cm so it's comfortable even for tall people or for longer instruments. Great mechanical construction, the ScopeDome 2M with H120 tower offers many accessories to motorize dome rotation or shutter and remotely control it.
ScopeDome 2M with H120 tower: provided accessories
ScopeDome rotation dome motor with encoder for 2M
ScopeDome rotation dome motor for 2M allows remote rotation of the of the 2M dome. For operation, it requires the Arduino Card. It includes encoders for dome position reading.
ScopeDome shutter motor for 2M
ScopeDome shutter motor for 2M allows remote control of the opening or closing of the 2M dome shutter. For operation, it requires the Arduino Card.
ScopeDome Arduino Card PlugAndPlay
This module is designed to control the astronomical observatory and it uses an open source communication protocol. You can control the ScopeDome Arduino Card via Ethernet or USB and it's powered by an external power supply. Two modules can be connected via BlueTooth in Master and Slave modes: the Master module controls the dome's rotation, the Slave module controls the dome's shutter. ScopeDome Arduino Card PlugAndPlay offers also emergency closing of the dome in case of power failure, rain, clouds, and low UPS battery voltage. ScopeDome Arduino Driver comes with an ASCOM driver compatible with ASCOM platform 6.4 to let you control ScopeDome also with the most popular astrophotography softwares.
ScopeDome Cloud and Rain sensor
The ScopeDome Cloud Sensor is a cloud and rain sensor based on sky temperature measurement, dedicated to work with the ScopeDome Arduino card. It allows for the automatic closing of the dome in case of rain or cloud cover. The built-in sensor heating system prevents false alarms caused by dew.
In order to automate and remotely control your dome and telescope with camera and accessories, connect the EAGLE to the ScopeDome (via USB or ethernet) and you will be able to control the entire observatory with an handy WiFi connection or with ethernet. Thanks to the EAGLE you will be able to distribute power to all 12V devices on the telescope while dome requires an external power source.
ScopeDome 2M dome with H120 tower: dimensions
diameter of the dome: 2000 mm shutter width: 590 mm dome height: 1400 mm diameter of the base: 1940 mm diameter of the outer base ring: 1940 mm diameter of the inner base ring: 1820 mm weight (with pallet): ~ 250 kg height with H120 tower: 2615 mm
360 degrees internal view of the ScopeDome 2M dome with H120 tower, control electronics, shutter and dome motors.
Need help in observatory design and construction?
Thanks to our deep understanding of all the technical specifications and the functions needed for a complete observatory to be really operational, we offer a special service for people (both amateurs and institutions) that want a complete observatory for their hobby, didactic use or work. Thanks to the fact that PrimaLuceLab not only sell all the parts needed for a complete observatory but also design and develops new solutions, our technical team can design and personalize all the instruments (telescope, pier, observatory and control computer) needed to give you a complete system matching your requests. If you're interested, please contact us.
ARCO 2" is the new low profile ARC second resolution rOtator that, thanks to its incredible resolution of 1 arc second per step, is the most precise camera rotator and field de-rotator! The 2” version of ARCO has a thickness of only 20mm and a free aperture of 50.9mm. When used together with an equatorially mounted telescope, ARCO allows you to rotate the...
ESATTO is the new generation robotic focuser that includes motor and advanced electronics and you control with EAGLE or any Windows computer by connecting it to a USB port, or via WiFi by using the Virtual HandPad on your smartphone or tablet! The 2” version of the ESATTO 2" has 50.9mm free aperture, 15mm of draw tube travel, 5kg load capacity and...
PLAY is the astrophotography software developed by PrimaLuceLab in order to record beautiful pictures of the night sky in the simpler way and with the telescope you prefer! PLAY includes many features needed for astrophotography like focuser control to perfectly focus you image, mount control for alignment and pointing of many objects, capture of...
GIOTTO 285 is the Smart Flat Field Generator we designed to help you capture flat calibration frames for telescopes with aperture up to 285mm. GIOTTO uses many LED lights at a color temperature similar to the Sun, a specially designed light diffuser and, thanks to the included thumbscrews, you can easily lock it in front of telescopes with external tube...
EAGLE5 XTM is our most powerful computer ever for telescopes and astrophotography with blazing-fast AMD Ryzen 3 5400U processor, Industrial Grade 32 GB fast DDR4 memory, and huge Industrial Grade 2TB SSD drive (NVMe). Thanks to dual LAN port, 10 USB ports (4x high speed USB 3.2 ports plus 6x USB 2.0 ports), new Inclinometer and Motion Detector sensors,...