RUI: Acquisition of Telescope Positioning and Guidance System

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This award will allow the Principal Investigator to upgrade the positioning and guidance system of the Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) Baker Observatory 0.4-m Cassegrain reflecting telescope. This telescope was one of the first instruments used at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO). It was obtained from CTIO by SMSU in 1983 on a long-term, renewable loan basis. The telescope was installed at Baker Observatory in 1984, and although the optical system is still quite satisfactory, the positioning and guidance system is in need of modernization. This award provides funds to purchase a computer-controlled closed-loop stepping motor positioning system and a remote guiding system. These will allow rapid and accurate positioning and precise guiding of the telescope. This will permit efficient use with existing instrumentation, which consists of an automated-filter photometer and a CCD imaging system. The scientific programs to be carried out with these instruments include high precision photoelectric and CCD camera photometry of variable stars, standard stars, and bright galaxies.