As you might have read, DSO35 is the newest telescope on the network, having replaced BSM_TX on the same rented pier at Dark Sky Observatory in Texas. Over the last 6 months or so, we’ve been running the system with good results.
Transformation coefficients are available in VPHOT for DSO35.
Images are reasonable, with the following caveats. There is some tilt in the system which changes from field to field. We remove most of the image distortions this causes by refocussing at each field, an overhead per field that we hope to remove in the future. This is not always perfect, so some fields may be slightly out of focus. In addition, the tilt means that star profiles are not constant across the image. The inner 1 degree or so looks good, but watch out for the corners/edges, especially with aperture photometry. If you need comp stars near the edge of the field, we recommend using a larger-than-normal aperture size to include all of the flux.
This is an alt-az system with a rotator. We’ve seen some images where there is trailing. Most of the time, this happens when fields are near the zenith and the rotator has trouble keeping up. We are working on solutions to avoid the zenithal deadzone.
Because of the location of DSO35 inside of its multi-telescope building, there exists severe southern horizon limits. The furthest south you can work is -21 degrees, and that only at the meridian. There is no north limit (an advantage of alt-az systems), and the east/west horizons are clear to at least 10 degrees altitude.
We will run for an entire year and then give a report on seeing conditions and any specific season when seeing particularly good or bad.