The C.O.A.A. 50cm telescope
is ready for Astronomy On-Line

Introduction

COAA is an astronomy centre, based in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, which is designed to provide amateur astronomers with the opportunity to use larger telescopes under exceptionally favourable observing conditions.

Astronomy at COAA

COAA takes advantage of the favourable conditions for observing which are to be found in this southwest corner of Europe.

Because of the southerly latitude of COAA, more of the night sky can be seen as the year progresses, than from more northerly locations. The latitude of COAA is 37^oN which means that objects down to 53^oS declination can be observed. This contrasts with a limit of only 38^oS declination for an observer in central Britain, for example. This extra 15^o contains some of the most rewarding sights in the night sky.

The climate of southern Portugal is one of the best in Europe. There can be no certainties where weather is concerned but the average annual sunshine total exceeds 3000 hours (75 percent of daylight hours) which ensures a very high probability of success for a visitor's observing programme. This is particularly important for events such as eclipses, occultations and meteor showers which must be observed at a precise moment.

Because of its more southerly latitude, twilight is shorter and the summer nights are longer at COAA than at higher latitudes. This permits observing against a dark sky background to be continued throughout the summer as well as the winter months. For the same reason, it is frequently advantageous when observing inferior planets or comets close to the sun.

Photo Nick Stevens

Telescopes at COAA include a 0.5m f4.5 Newtonian on an equatorial, driven, fork mount, three 0.3m f5 Newtonian telescopes, one on an equatorial driven mount and housed in a rotatable dome, and the other two on Dobsonian mounts. The equatorially-mounted reflectors have provision for photography or CCD imaging at the Newtonian focus. COAA is IAU observatory number 965.

Astronomy On-Line at COAA

The 0.5m telescope at COAA with a CCD imager will be made available on selected nights during October and November to Astronomy On-Line particpants to enable them to capture monochrome images of chosen areas of sky. The equipment is not suitable for capturing images of very bright objects such as the Moon or planets but is suitable for capturing deep sky objects, for measuring the precise positions of comets or asteroids, or for making relative magnitude estimates of rapidly varying stars such as CY AQR or rapidly rotating asteroids. Images will be captured by COAA staff using the equipment and then transmitted to the=20 participants for study and analysis.

For more information about COAA, brochures, newsletters, booking forms, etc., please contact:

Email: coaa@mail.telepac.pt