Gharb is  located at the westernmost point of the island of Gozo in Malta and this is where PrimaLuceLab Team installed a custom version of the COMPACT Observatory Station! COMPACT is the most affordable Observatory Station that comes with 2 meter diameter dome, alt-az mount and telescopes, cameras and remote control accessories that we designed for astronomy education, outreach and astrophotography. The version designed for Ghozo uses a ScopeDome 2M dome and a SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 mount that supports a dual telescope system: a Celestron 9.25″ SC and a SkyWatcher EVOSTAR 80 ED. In this article you can watch the installation video and read details about the telescope design and main features.

The entire COMPACT Observatory Station has been assembled in PrimaLuceLab headquarters and then shipped to Malta. One of the advantages of the ScopeDome 2M dome is that it comes pre-installed so installation at the final location is relatively simple and straightforward. The dome has been moved to the final location by a proper crane and has been fixed on the concrete base in order to protect the telescope that PrimaLuceLab Installation Team was going to install.

At the center of the dome we installed the C82 pier on top of an extender that has been manufactured in order to have the telescopes at the correct height above the ground (in order to avoid obstruction because of the dome when telescopes are pointed towards the horizon). In order to provide a simpler to use system, the SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 computerized mount is set in Alt-Azi mode and it’s provided with a special mechanical system designed by PrimaLuceLab to support dual telescope system.

The telescope system is composed by a Celestron 9.25″ Schmidt-Cassegrain provided with ESATTO 2″ focuser, GIOTTO285 flat field generator with ALTO-2 cover motor and QHY5III USB 3.0 color camera and a SkyWatcher EVOSTAR 80 ED apochromatic refractor provided with ESATTO 2″ focuser, ARCO 2″ rotator, GIOTTO150 flat field generator with ALTO-1 cover motor and a QHY268C cooled camera. This way the COMPACT Observatory Station provides 2 imaging systems: one with a narrow FoV and optimised for planetary imaging; the other one with a wider FoV optimised for deep-sky object imaging.

The entire observatory is controlled by using the EAGLE where we installed PLAY astrophotography software. In order to make the first integration tests, we controlled the imaging systems by using a computer installed in the dome and this computer will be moved to the control room that will be prepared for outreach and educational use. One of the advantages of the EAGLE is that it’s an open platform so the telescope operator will be able to install the astronomy and astrophotography softwares for Windows they prefer in order to use the telescopes in the way they like.

Thanks to its compact size and pre-assembled structure, we can ship the COMPACT Observatory Station all over the World and we can also offer Installation and Training Services at an affordable price. This makes the COMPACT Observatory Station a great solution for astronomy education, outreach and even astrophotography!