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Collaborative works at
Kottamia Observatory in Egypt
Sister Telescope of OAO 74”
Middle Telescope Network
over Middle-East and Asia
Sasaki before Mt. Kailas

Access since 2009/06/25

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top Kottamia Observatory Work Items Reports on our Visit DomeFlat CO2 Snow Hartmann Docs References bottom
2009 Jun 2009 Nov

What is Kottamia Observatory in Egypt
Two papers on Kottamia Observatory can be seen on Web Pages.

The position of the telescope is after Hassan's paper(1998):

Latitude 29 55' 35.24" N
Longitude 31 49' 45.85" E
Altitude 482.7 m

Other info available in Info_Kottamia.txt

KottamiaObservatory

Location of Kottamia
from Google Earth
Work Items
  1. Work Items planned for next visit to Kottamia
    Mr. Noguchi's proposal of Work Items in near future (2009-06-21) (in Japanese; PDF 88KB)

  2. Some considerations on Optical performance of Kottamia 74 inch Telescope by Takeshi Nocguchi,
    based on "Preliminary Kottamia Image Analysis V2" (2008? by Fisher Astronomical Systems Engineering, Cambridge, UK; see below the reference ) (in Japanese; PDF 988KB)

  3. Plan for Work Items expected during Nov.14 - Nov.25 stay at KottamiObservatory (in English; 6 KB) , and the same work plan in Japanese (7 KB)

Work Reports
• Work Reports during November, 2010
• Work Reports during November, 2009
    Works at Kottamia during 2009-11-14 - 2009-11-25 by Takeshi Noguchi, Hisdashi Koyano & Toshiyuki Sasaki
    1. adjusted Axial Support system (ASS) of the mirror.
      1. measured Heights of ASS (Initial height measured on Nov.15, 2009 and heights after adjustment on Nov. 17, 2009)
      2. enlarged the limiter hole using a bit machine fort ASS points (ASP) #12, #13, and #14 by 1mm, 1mm, and 4mm respectively, shown above (Nov 16).
      3. inserted thin plastic sheet(s) between ASP pads and pads' base for ASP#1, #7, #8, #9, and #10 by 0.18mm, 0.75mm, 1.0mm, 0.93mm, and 0.18mm, respectively.
      4. measured current weights of all the Axial Support System (ASS)
    2. checked Newtonian mirror support to be tighted stiffly to the telescope base
    3. investigated where Dome Flat screen is attached inside the dome
    4. checked Aluminizing proces of the mirror at Kottamia with possible apply of a pre-wet filaments for Aluminizing.
    5. measured length for hose from the dome floor to M1 about 7-8m for CO2 snow implements.
    6. looked around Laboratory at Kottamia to find good avilable tools there (Nov 23).
    7. attached new cramps for M2 covers of Newtonian and Cassegrain.
    8. made a wooden support in order to disassemble the newtonian mirror from its cell.
    9. checked strange noise from declination-driving motor (Noguchi)
    10. measured sizes and positions for Cassegrain buffle.
    11. prepared and attached Marks saying "Don't Move AFP" back of M1 cell around three AFP.
    12. discussed for shielding plate for opposite side of the telescope tube to Newtonian focus position.
    13. checked universality of joint for LN2 cylinder used at Kottamia; possibly universal.
    14. some extended discussions with Director Dr. Hamed.
Photo taken at Kottamia
M78 Nov,2009
Nebula M78, Nov. 23, 2009
• Work Reports done during June, 2009
( click here for Detailed Work done during visit to Kottamia between Jule, 2009 )
Works at Kottamia during 2009-06-07 - 2009-06-14 by Takeshi Noguchi & Toshiyuki Sasaki
  1. Adjustment of Primary Mioor(M1): We found that three axial fixed support (Axial Fixation Point AFP) pads are higher towards M1 above other movable axial support(AS) pads. By sinking those AFP pads and adjusting other AS pads, we successfully improved the stellar images to normal single-shaped round images than 3-segmented images before. We confirmed that stellar images keep being round over the sky by moving the telescope. Our main purpose of this trip is acheived successfully.
  2. CCD 10' FOV was shifted mechanically to the new coma-free center (with diameter about 2'). Coma-free field is found to be shifted by about 4' by changing the telescope north to south. This shift may be occured by a mount gap inside the Newtonian mirror or/and a flexure of spiders for Newtonian mirror. It must be adjusted for mount system inside the Newtonian mirror and the spiders. If not adjusted, we propose that installation of a XY slider mechanics is necessary for Newtonian instruments to compensate the shift of Coma-free region.
  3. By measuring the optical axis with a laser beam gun attached to Cassegrain(Cs) focus, CCD mount at the Newtonian focus was shifted to match the optical axis.
  4. We discussed about the future collaborations between Egypt and japan on the Kottamia Telescope and Astronomy.
ThreePointImage
Image before June 6, 2009.
↓
PhotoReport200906
Image around M13 after adjustment on June 10, 2009
• Dome Flat
to calibrate CCD images with Dome Flat illumination system, installed during our visit at Kottamia in Nov. 2010.

Originally SORIC screen was planed to be used as reflecting screen.
KottamiaObservatory
Dome Flat (pdf file: 3.5MB)


• CO2 Snow
to clean up the mirror surface from the accumulated dusts
• Hartmann Test
to evaluate optical performance of the telescope using Hartmann Plate
Hartmann test during June, 2009
    Observations for Hartmann Test have been done on July 21, 2009. Those image data are analyzed to show its Hartmann Constant about 0.67 arcsec, including a part of Coma and Astigmatism. See details, please click here.

    Hartmann test should be done again after optical adjustment.


    Hartmann Plate on tube top

    Distribution of Residual vector
    for Hartmann Test images

    Expected image at Best focus
    (Hartmann constant 0.65 arcsec)
• Hartmann test during Nov, 2009
Image quality has been much improved after adjustment of heights of Axial Support System.
Image at Best Focus Hartmann Constant 0.319 arcsec,
Nov. 23, 2009
Hartmann Test Images with different focus values,
(HartmannTestImagesWithDifferentFocusValues.pdf)
which show a slight astigmatism .


Hartmann Constant (arcsec), carried on Nov. 23, 2009
Object Hartman constant (arcsec)
3377 33 Lyn 0.288 arcsec
4309 51 UMa (Eastern) 0.324 arcsec
note) FWHM(min image size) = 2 x HartmannConstant
• Preparation works at OAO ( Sep 17, 2009)
Prof. Noguchi, Mr. Koyana, Prof. Yoshida, Prof. Sasaki were gathering at OAO to prepare work items, which are expected to be done during next visit at Kottamia ( Noguchi-san''s WorkItems) (inJapanese): Works are summarized in 20090917OAOWorkReport.txt (only in Japanese).
# Item
1 Adjustment of Newtonian Mirror in its cell to remove possible movement of Nw mirror in its cell.
2 Cassegrain buffle
3 Dome flat : Illumination lamp and SORIC screen (www.cornes-dodwell.co.jp)
4 Alumium pre-wet chamber for aluminizing pre-wet method
Photos Click here to see Photos taken at OAO
. new Factory at OAO
. 50cm MITSUME telescope for GRB observations

• Docs on Kottamia Observatory and 74 inch Telescope (Restricted to members only)

Doc Name Year Contents Format (Size)
ContractAra_1994_Alabic.pdf 1994 Contract Ara in Alabic(!) pdf (12.0MB)
MirrorManual_CarlZeiss.pdf 1995(?) MirrorManual_CarlZeiss pdf (650KB)
MirrorOpticalSystem_CarlZeiss1995.pdf 1995 Mirror Optical System designed by Carl Zeiss pdf (46.6MB)
TestCerificateOfMainMirrorInKottamiaSky_1995.pdf 1995 Test Cerificate Of Main Mirror In Kottamia Sky pdf (10.3MB)
TestCertifacte188cmPrimaryMirrorMl_1996.pdf 1996 Test Certifacte 188cm Primary Mirror Ml pdf (2.8MB)
TestCertificatePrimaryMirorrJena1997.pdf 1997 Test Certificate Primary Mirorr Jena pdf (337KB)
TestCertificateSecondaryMirror1997.pdf 1997 Test Certificate Secondary Mirror pdf (155KB)
Test Plan 1997 TestPlan1997.pdf pdf (7.4MB)
Shack Hartmann Test done with Kottamia74 by SPOT S.R.L, Milano, Italy 1999 Shack Hartmann Test analysis with Kottamia 74, reported in 1999 pdf (33.8MB)
ReportM1SupportSystem_1999.pdf 1999 Short Report M1 Support System by Zeiss pdf (1.3MB)
Parameters_Kottmia74_2002.pdf 2002 Parameters of Kottmia 74 telescope asnd its problems pdf (6.6MB)
PreliminaryKottamiaImageAnalysisV2.pdf 2008(?) Preliminary Kottamia Image Analysis V2, done by Fisher Astronomical Systems Engineering, Cambridge, UK pdf (2.0MB)
Inspection_report_of_KT_M1_Support_System.pdf 2009 Results of Wed 15/4/2009 inspection of the 74” Kottamia Telescope M1 support system pdf (171KB)

• References
Poster presented at ASJ Fall meeting at Yamaguchi University on Sep 14-16,2009. 		Presentation at Astronomical Society of Japan in Sep 2009 (Yamaguchi-University)
on "Renovational Improvement of Optical Performance of Kottamia 188cm Telescope in Egypt" (pdf; 60KB) in English.
Poster presented at ASJ meeting at Hiroshima University on Mar 24-27, 2010. 		Presentation at Astronomical Society of Japan in Mar 2010 (Hiroshima-University)
on "Renovational Improvement of Optical Performance of Kottamia 188cm Telescope in Egypt (II)" (pdf; 17KB) in Japanese.
Poster planned to be presented at African Astronomical Meeting held in South Africa in 2010. 		Planned Presentation at African Astronomical Meeting in 2010 (South Africa)
on "Renovational Improvement of Optical Performance of Kottamia 188cm Telescope in Egypt" (text; 3.4KB) in English.
KottamiaObservatory
Hartmann Test 		"Hartmann Test at Kottamia Observatory" (pdf file: 3.5 MB)


Revision History ( after 2009 June 25 )

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