The Summit Observatory, located in Middletown, Delaware, next to the Summit Airport, is a private observatory founded by Paul Knight, the owner of Delmarva Computer Associates. The observatory is named after the surrounding area, Summit, Delaware, and contrary to the impression this name gives, the site is not on a summit, but only about sixty feet above sea level. We are working toward establishing a fixed structure for more continuous operations. We are looking at a roll-off roof system placed at the far end of the property to maximize the view toward the southern horizon. We are also looking for used trailers that could be converted to a mobile observatory. The small, enclosed U-Haul trailers would be ideal. It would also be nice to have the trailer for hauling around the robot for Team 1370.
The optical system is based on a recently acquired Meade 10″ Schmidt-Cassegrain, with a true f/6.3 focal ratio. Exposures taken with this system will take 1/3 the time of a typical f/10 SCT. Deep sky objects, particularly galaxies, that require exposures of 45 minutes or more, can be done in just 15 minutes. This is good, because the site is only about sixty feet from Rt 896, a four-lane highway! Initial tests showed that the optical system is extremely sensitive to vibrations. We are now researching ways to isolate and stabilize the cement slab that will be the foundation for the scope’s pier.
The mount is a Celestron CGEM German equatorial mount, also recently obtained. In fact, both major components of the observatory’s rig came from the great folks at Hands On Optics in Damascus, Maryland. These folks were great to work with, highly knowledgable and go out of their way for their customers.
