CITY ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE ITB (CAT-ITB) - DEVELOPMENT OF A SEMI-ROBOTIC OBSERVING SYSTEM FOR RESEARCH OF TRANSIENT OBJECTS AND COLOR MAGNITUDE DIAGRAM OF OPEN CLUSTERS

• Main Author: Zakky Aprianizar, Muhammad
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Astronomi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84382
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

City Astronomical Telescope ITB (CAT-ITB) is an 11-inch diameter Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) telescope manufactured by Celestron, equipped with a Paramount MX+ robotic mounting manufactured by Software Bisque. CAT-ITB can be developed into a fully-robotic telescope that can work without human intervention. This research is the ?rst step of many in the development of a fully robotic system by ?rst developing a semi-robotic system for further learning and research. In this research, a control system that can be operated remotely and with minimal human intervention was developed. The control system is centralized in one software called Nighttime Imaging ‘N Astronomy (NINA) which is a software that can control the components of the observing system. NINA is also an open source software that is free to use. In addition, the ability of the telescope to observe transient objects such as variable stars, asteroids, and exoplanets, as well as open clusters was also studied to determine the prospects for future research that can be carried out using CAT-ITB, which is located in the center of Bandung. The results of this study are expected to pave the way for the development of CAT-ITB into a fully robotic observing system, become a learning material for students and interested amateur astronomers, and open more research prospects that can be carried out in the Astronomy department of ITB.