What is a mapping run?

And you thought this all happened by magic? LOL

OK time for true confessions. The Paramount’s all provide superior accuracy in terms of precision operation. In fact they work so well most of us never even think about what is involved in getting that object we slewed to almost always in the center of the chip.

All of this magic is accomplished by the miracle of a software application called T-Point. T-Point is a database system that works in conjunction with the software that runs the mounts and points the telescopes.

A mapping run is where we systematically slew the telescope, generally over a few hour period, to hundreds of points in the sky and compare where the scope thinks it is pointing to where it is actually pointing. We perform this fete by taking a picture of the spot at which it is pointing and compare the celestial coordinates of the picture against a known database. If there are any differences between the positions they are recorded in a database that T-Point coordinates with the telescope control software.

For more details check: http://www.bisque.com/Products/TPoint/

Arnie

The GRAS Team

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