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Through the incredible dedication
of many OCA members, and in particular William Kuhn (after
whom the telescope is named), we have our own professional
grade 22" fully computer controlled telescope. This telescope
and the OCA Observatory was officially opened in September
of 1984. The telescope is estimated to be worth of the order
of $300,000.
The most incredible part of the story
is that any member can be trained to operate this wonderful
instrument. Please review the details on becoming a Star
Member.
When the telescope was initially built
it was not computer controlled and it had to be moved manually
(so I am told) using some pretty extensive muscle power. Through
the years and due to the continued efforts of many OCA members
the telescope has received much care and attention which has
resulted in many improvements.
 For
many years now the telescope has been computer controlled
- allowing it to be moved to objects by selecting them from
a specialized computer program. More recently the system has
been upgraded to allow the telescope to be controlled using
commercially available off-the-shelf telescope control software.
Currently the telescope is undergoing
some major refurbishment including upgrades to the control
system. This work in being sprearheaded by Dave Radosevich.
All-in-all these improvements make
the telescope extremely easy to use and a very powerful instrument
for visual observation and also for the use in astronomical
research programs. The telescope has been used to discover
new super-novae (six were discovered by past OCA President
Wayne Johnson). It has also been used to discover new asteroids
by OCA members Myke Collins and Minor White.
In addition to the 22" telescope
the observatory is also the home for dual 10" and 12"
Meade LX200 scopes (the 12" was recently donated by Observatory
Custodian - John Hoot). The 10" scope is often being
used byStar Member (and board member) Bob Buchhiem in his
own asterioid photometry research program (where he is examining
the rotational periods of asteroids by measuring their "light
curve").
Our observatory is maintained through
the care and attention of the observatory custodian John Hoot.
* photos by Greg Pyros
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The
Kuhn Telescope