How Does RemoteSkies work?
RemoteSkies allows you to remotely direct telescopes to take online astrophotos for astrophotography or scientific study.
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To begin, book a time slot using the scheduling app above. Choose the telescope you'd like to use. Choose a desired target or request the RA/DEC you'd like for your photos. If you need help finding a target or an RA/DEC see "How can I determine a target for the telescope?" below. Next select the exposure length, number of exposures, filter combination, etc. of your choosing for your photo series. Lights, along with darks and flats will be available on Dropbox.com when your telescope has completed the photos.
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If desired, the photos can also be completely processed using PixInsight, creating a finished LRGB, HaLRGB, SHO, or other filter combination astrophoto. You can use the schedule app to order finished photos as well.
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You have complete copyright and ownership of all photos delivered to you if you book time on a telescope.
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Alternatively, for a lower cost, you can order complete data sets of astrophotography targets. See here.
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If you order data sets, you will not have copyright privileges for the raw data. The raw data provided cannot be republished, sold or shared without our consent. If the raw data is used to create a completed astrophoto that is published or sold, you do have copyright privileges, and we request that Remoteskies.net be mentioned as the raw data source.
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To start the process, book an online telescope with the schedule app or download a data set.
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Can RemoteSkies be used for scientific studies (astrometry, photometry, etc.)?
Yes, we are happy to support scientific studies that can make use of our equipment.
How can I determine a target for the telescope?
To determine a target for your telescope, you'll need to select a target that's in an optimal position for your telescope's location and your booking date/time. Fortunately there is a website that makes this easy. It's called Telescopius.com. To find a target:
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1. Click the Find A Target for Telescope X button next to the telescope you'd like to take a photo with. This will take you to Telescopius.com which is now calibrated to find targets for the telescope you've selected.
2. Click on Targets on the top menu bar. Select your target type (Deep Sky, Planets, Comets/Asteroids, etc).
3. Under Search Parameters, to the right of visible, enter your booking start time and booking end time. Enter over 60º and your total booking time after "for at least". This will ensure the telescope is not pointed too close to the horizon. If you are using LRGB filters, choose at least 120º for angular distance from the moon. If you are using OIII choose 90º, if using Ha or SII choose 60º.
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4. Under Apparent Magnitude, choose From 6 To (the diameter closest to that of your telescope; For Telescope 1 put 15.7 - 16" / 406mm , for Telescope 2 put 20, for Telescope 3 put 13.0 - 4.5" / 114mm).
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That's it. Telescopius.com will give you a list of targets (ex. M81, M82, NGC 2903 . . . ) for your telescope on the night of your booking. If no results are found, try lowering the degree value to something below 60º. Note, however, that 45º is about as low as you should go to avoid signal noise caused by the increased amount of atmosphere the light has to travel through when your telescope is point more toward the horizon.
What happens if the weather is bad on the night my telescope is booked?
If the weather is bad and your photos are not taken on your booking night, RemoteSkies.net will reschedule your photo session for sometime within 10 days following your booking. You will be notified by email if this occurs.
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How can you ensure my photos will be quality photos?
Only low noise, low eccentricity, high SNR . . . high quality subs will be delivered. The quality will be judged using PixInsight's Subframe Selector Script.
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What are the advantages of using Remote Skies online telescopes?
Lower Costs:
There are many cost advantages to using the online telescopes at Remoteskies.net. First, high equipment costs are eliminated. All telescope systems on RemoteSkies.net cost 10s of thousands of dollars. You can obtain photos by booking the equipment with our scheduling app for as little as US$40 per hour. Alternatively you can buy complete data sets for US$45 or less.
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In addition, RemoteSkies.net's costs are considerably lower than other internet astrophotography sites with equivalent or better photographic results.
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Time:
Remote Skies remotely controlled telescopes also save time. You can create photos in a small fraction of the time required using your own telescope. For instance Telescope 1 collects 15 times the amount of light per hour that a typical 80mm telescope collects. So, all other things being equal, a one hour photo session with Telescope 1 is equivalent to a 15 hour photo session using a typical 80mm amateur astrophotography telescope.
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In addition, all our remote telescopes are at true dark sites. If you live in the city, and use our scopes, you won't have to travel to a dark site which could be many hours away. You also won't have hours of setup and tear down time when you arrive and leave.
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Telescope 2 is located at arguably the best location on the planet for taking astrophotos, in Rio Hurtado Valley in Chile, at Deep Sky Chile. This location is a true Bortle Class 1 dark site with an incredible 320 nights per year of clear skies. As well, a whole new night sky awaits in Chile that is not available in the northern hemisphere!
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The true dark sites, where our remote telescopes are located, do not have the overwhelming light pollution that most towns and cities do. This light pollution creates noise that can drown out the signal from deep sky objects. To compensate and "see through" the noise, the total exposure time for a telescope in the city has to be increased dramatically over a telescope at a dark sky site.
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Stay in the comfort of your own home:
Many astrophotographers and astrophotography fans live in areas where the nighttime climate is unbearable for the long hours required for astrophotography. Doing internet astronomy allows you to stay in the comfort of your own home.
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How Can I determine proper exposure times for a photo?
First, take a look at the gallery photos to see typical exposure times for subjects similar to yours. The photos give both subframe (individual photo) exposure time and total exposure time (# of subframes x subframe exposure time) for each filter. Galaxies typically have much longer subframe and total exposure times. Subframes of 10s of minutes or more and total exposure times of several hours per filter are typical. On the other hand, Star Clusters typically require around 30 sec subframes and around 15 minutes of total exposure time per filter.
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If you are in doubt about what values are appropriate for your subject, send us an email at support@remoteskies.net and we can suggest times for you. We can tune times to fit your budget as well.