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Who Uses ACP?

Some of the most successful amateur and educational observatories in the world. Here is a list of just some educational facilities. And of course, amateur astronomers use our software too:

Amateur astronomers who always use ACP as their automation tool

Tim Puckett (6 observatories: Georgia, Africa, British Columbia, So. Arizona)
Tim Puckett's team has held the non-professional record for discovered supernovae for more than 7 years, all of which were using ACP. As of early 2007 the team has 157 officially recognized supernova discoveries.

All six of the team's observatories (four are research-grade) are controlled by ACP. Together they typically acquire about three thousand images per night! This sort of application is where ACP's overlapping slew and image download really counts! Can you be sure the other automation system you're looking at can do that?

Puckett has tools that he has developed over the last 6 years which generate nightly ACP observing plans and feed them to his team's ACP-based observatories. The results are truly amazing, given the tiny budget that they are operating with!

The Puckett team observatories all use ACP exclusively. There is no way any of the other automation packages could stand up to this test!

We're blessed with the great cooperation we've received from the Puckett Supernova Search. ACP's design goals are to be usable by all disciplines of astronomy, and Tim Puckett and his team (e.g. Ajai Sehgal and Jack Newton) are a key contributor to our success. Thank you, Tim et al.

Desert Eagle (IAU #333)

Located in Benson, Arizona and operated by William Kwong Yu Yeung, who is a recipient of the 2002 Edgar Wilson Award for comet discovery (images acquired by ACP of course - 4 years ago!). Mr. Yeung also holds the amateur record for confirmed new asteroid discoveries in one dark run, over 450 in a three-week period. This is not a designation number, it is a discovery number. A real accomplishment! Once again, ACP was there for a pioneering amateur. We're still very focused on amateur astronomy - our goal is to make cooperative sharing of amateur observatories a reality.

In order to get that many discoveries in 2002, one would need to get thousands of designations. He uses ACP (and PinPoint) on each of several telescopes to routinely acquire and quickly plate-solve many thousands of large format images of different objects per night.

This sort of application is where ACP's overlapping slew and image download really counts! Can you be sure the other automation system you're looking at can do that?

Jarnac (David Levy, Tom Glinos)
David Levy, noted writer, speaker and comet hunter operates Jarnac Observatory in Vail, Arizona. The three automated telescopes he uses for comet hunting are run by ACP. Observing plans are prepared by David and co-investigators. His co-investigator Tim Glinos uses ACP for remote observing from Canada on a separate observatory located on the Jarnac grounds.
Tenagra Observatories (IAU #926)
Located in Patagonia, Arizona and operated by Michael Schwartz, Tenagra specializes in supernova search and minor planet studies, and also provides telescope time to several professional organizations around the world.

All of Tenagra's telescopes, including the 32 inch SciTech research telescope and the Paramount-mounted instruments, are controlled by ACP. Co-investigator Dr. Paulo Holvorcem has developed a scheduler and a script that runs 24/7 in ACP's console and controls all aspects of observatory operation. Telescope time is shared by several educational institutions on contract.

Rochedale, AU (IAU #E25)
Located in Queensland, Australia, Automated Patrol Telescopes Australia run their facility using ACP. Besides doing research work themselves, APTA also also provide remote observing services to people all over the world. Their animated sequence of the close approach of the asteroid 4179 Toutatis on September 28, 2004 is featured on the JPL Near Earth Object Program. ACP automated the acquisition of the images that make up the animation.

This is just a sampling of the people, teams, and organizations that have adopted ACP as their only observatory automation solution. If you're still hesitating, please feel free to contact me (Bob Denny) at +1 480 396 9700 during business hours US Mountain time (1400-2400 UTC) and I'll answer any questions you may have. Unlike most other astronomy software developers, this is my primary (well, only) vocation.

ACP is in use at universities, community colleges, and other organizations. Here are a few (there are a lot more!):

Copyright © 2000-2014, Robert B. Denny of Mesa, Arizona. All rights reserved.