About

Photon Fishing is a blog dedicated to covering the activities of The Elizabeth Crosby Memorial Observatory (TECMO) and topics related to variable star observing in general.  TECMO's mission is to monitor long period, short period, cataclysmic, and other variable stars of interest in support of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO).  TECMO is a semi-permanent observatory in Charleston, South Carolina with a dedicated pier that requires removal of the telescope each night.  Plans are in place to transition to a permanent remote observatory in the near future.

TECMO

Specifications

Optical:

Design	Schmidt-Cassegrain (Celestron ASGT)
Mounting	CG-5 German Equatorial Mount (GEM)
Aperture	203.2 mm (8 in)
F number	6.3
Focal distance = Aperture x F number	1280 mm

Sensor:

Sensor	SBIG ST-8XE CCD
Sensor pixel size	9 μm
Pixel Array (x)	1530 pixels
Pixel Array (y)	1020 pixels
Resolution = (pixel size/focal length) x 206.265	1.45 arcsec/pixel
Typical seeing	4 arcsec
Expected FWHM = Typical seeing/Resolution	2.76 pixels
Field of View	37 by 25 arcmin (2219 by 1479 arcsec)

Software:

TECMO's telescope and sensor are controlled by a combination of Maxim DL and the free  planetarium program Stellarium.  The images are processed in Maxim DL and photometry is performed online with VPhot, available for free to members of the AAVSO.