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Telescope Control System GUI for the Ray E White Telescope.

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the Ray E. White Telescope is located on the desktop of the computers in the dome. The Telescope Control computer should be running before you start the GUI program other wise the program will hang. To open the program simply double click on the icon labeled TCS GUI 03-24-2008. If everything is working correctly you should get a window that looks like this:

Finder Scope Access position

Generally the first function you use on the telescope is the Finder Scope Action choice in the service menu. To access this menu:

click on the service tab at the top
click on the Finder Scope Access item (will be highlighted after clicking)
click on the Go To button located below the reload button.

The telescope should slew towards the northern wall so you can access the finder scope cover.

General Use

Generally, you will be using the GOTO tab to slew to an object. The GOTO tab looks like this:

There are a few ways to slew to and track an object in the night sky.

Enter RA and Dec coordinates

To enter RA and Dec coordinates manually, make sure you are in the GOTO tab. Enter the coordinates of your object and click the Set Next button. The object's coordinates are now in the buffer. Click the Go Next button to slew to these coordinates.

Find the object in a catalog

To slew to an object in the catalog you must be in the GOTO window. Click on the Open Catalog button in the center of the window. You will be given a list of catalog. Double click on the catalog you would like. The objects in the catalog will be listed in the catalog box at the bottom half of the window. All objects below the horizon are highlighted in red. Click on the object you are interested in and click the Set Next button and then Go Next buttons.

Initializing the Telescope on a Bright Star

In order to verify the telescope knows where it is in the sky slew to a bright star using the GOTO window. Make sure you use the Set Next button in order to put the coordinates into the buffer. Use the paddle controls to put that object in the center of the field of view of the telescope. Return to the GUI application and click on the Service tab. In the service tab click the Init Next Button at the bottom of the screen.

List of Popular Stars for observing

Proper Name	FK5	SAO	Greek Letter	Constellation	Type
Albireo	732			Cygnus	Visual
Alcor 497				Ursa Major	Spectroscopic
Algol 111				Perseus	Eclipsing
Almach 73			gamma	Andromeda	Visual
Alpheratz	1			Andromeda	Spectroscopic
Arcturus	526		Alpha	Bootes	3rd brightest star in sky
Bellatrix	201			Orion	No
Betelgeuse	224			Orion	Spectroscopic
Capella	193			Auriga	Spectroscopic
Castor 287				Gemini	Visual
Gamma Leporis	217			Lepus	yellow and red
Dubhe 417				Ursa Major	Visual
Iota Cancri		80416	Iota	Cancer	Visual***
Mintaka	206			Orion	Eclipsing
Mirach 42			Beta	Andromeda
Mizar 497				Ursa Major	Visual
Polaris	907			Ursa Minor	Inferred
Pollux 295				Gemini	No
Procyon	291			Canis Minor	Visual (but don't bother)
Rigel 194				Orion	Visual (very nice, almost looks like a quad)
R Leporis		150058		Lepus	“Drop of blood” red star
Sigma Orionis		132406	Sigma	Orion	Gravitational nonuple system, can see 7 easily - awesome!!
Saif 209				Orion	No
Spica 498
Sirius 257				Canis Major	Visual (but don't bother)
Tsih 32			Gamma	Cassiopeia
Vega 699				Lyra	Freaking bright star
ghost of jupiter	NGC 3242				planetary nebula
37 NGC 2169						open cluster
epsilon lyrae	67310			Lyra	double double system

Questions or Suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions for changing the GUI email Scott Swindell sswindell@as.arizona.edu. Here is a list of suggestions we have already received.

Other Resources

Alt Az Calculator