Alt-Az Hawaii Workshop
OVERVIEW

Alt-Az Telescope Developments, Instrumentation,
and Astronomical Research

by Professionals, Amateurs, and Students

The 2010 Alt-Az Telescopes, Instrumentation, and Astronomical Research Workshop at the Makaha Resort in Hawaii will cover many topics including Alt-Az telescope design and instrumentation as well as astronomical research as a form of undergraduate education.

The workshop will start with an informal evening gathering on Friday, February 5^th followed by agenda development session in the morning on Saturday, February 6th.

Saturday and Sunday February 6^th and 7^th will consist of morning and late afternoon presentations as well as informal evening discussions.

Two days of presentations will be followed by additional panels and discussions on Monday, February 8^th..

As with last year’s conference at the Makaha Resort, there will be an optional post-workshop insider's tours of the 8-meter Gemini on Mauna Kea on Wednesday, February 10th.

Tuesday, February 9^th will act as a day for relaxation and travel between the conference on Oahu and the insider’s Gemini tour on the Big Island of Hawaii, starting at Hilo (not Kona).

Alt-Az Telescope Developments The workshop will place some emphasis on lightweight, low cost, large aperture mirrors. However, telescope structures, control systems, and enclosures will also receive consideration. While emphasis will be placed on 1-2 meter telescopes, small aperture telescopes (less than 1 meter) will also be discussed as they apply to science and education.

Instrumentation Very affordable CCD cameras are becoming increasingly capable of making precise photometric and astrometric measurements. However, advancements also need to and are being made in the area of near IR aperture photometers. Some efforts are being explored that would not only extend near IR aperture photometry beyond the J and H bands available with off-the-shelf photometers, to Ks band, but would also lower temperatures and noise levels and possibly allow simultaneous sky observations. There are also interesting developments in spectrographs for smaller telescopes that can obtain high spectral resolution.

Lightbucket Science What science is particularly amenable to large aperture, low cost telescopes? This section of the conference will expand on Arne Henden’s Pasadena American Astronomical Society Workshop talk, "1.5 Meter Lightbucket Science." Areas include high precision fast cadence photometry, near IR aperture photometry, low to medium resolution spectroscopy (both survey and time series), and high speed photometry.

Research as a Form of Education Of particular interest are undergraduate and advanced placement high school students (as well as amateur astronomers) who make modest contributions to science through original research during seminars. A far cry from canned lab projects, their research results are presented in public talks and published papers which students cite for years in college and scholarship applications as well as future resumes. Some areas of research, such as short period variable star photometry or double star astrometry are particularly amenable to student research.