Speaker
Description
Since 1907, a lot of valuable and important scientific research work has been done using the 30-inch Reynolds refractor at Helwan, and Kottamia 74-inch telescope in Egypt. Kottamia telescope is the only one at its size in the Middle East and the second in Africa.
In my talk, the Egyptian current observatory facilities will be presented. The talk will be somewhat technical and is related to the refurbishment of the 1.9-m Kottamia telescope which is the main telescope at the Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO). The refurbishment includes both of the optical system as well as the 45-years old control system. In addition, the talk will show the upgrade implemented to the aluminizing plant which is currently running with the SIMENS Programmable Logic Control (PLC). The talk will also give enough information about the current observing instrument attached to the Cassegrain focus of the telescope which is the Kottamia Faint Object Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter (KFISP) and the problems been faced in getting the optimal performance of the instrument. The talk will additionally present the current running projects, science interests, and collaborations with the international groups. Finally, the talk will show the future plans and the progress related to the intention of the construction of a new 6.5-m telescope at Sinai Peninsula and the site testing campaign which started some months ago.
| Stream | Science or Engineering |
|---|