The Telescope
Thunderbird South is the renewed UBC Southern Observatory, a project led by Professor Aaron Boley, along with Professors Paul Hickson and Harvey Richer. The facility uses a Planewave CDK 500 telescope and an L-500 Mount. The system can be operated remotely, through user interaction, as well as robotically, operation without human intervention.
Specs
- Camera: FLI Proline PL16803 Cooled CCD
- Filters: Johnson-Cousins UBVRI + ND14, ND20
- Sensor: ON Semi KAF-16803
- 4096 x 4096 pixels
- 61% Peak Quantum Efficiency
Current Operators
Sharon Chan
Operating Thunderbird South lets Sharon pretend she has the biggest eyes in the universe, stretching her “pupils” from 5 mm to 500 mm. With this superpower, she spends her nights eavesdropping on light that traveled millions of years just to say hello.
Contact: sharonchan6562@gmail.com
Andrea Schildhorn
Though it may seem that Andrea commands the telescope through mere lines of code, in truth, she transcends the limits of light itself, darting between locations to guide Thunderbird South with her own hands.
Contact: andrea.schildhorn1@gmail.com
Previous Operators
Chantal Hemmann
Chantal’s work as a Thunderbird South operator has allowed her a unique view into deep space that she is thrilled to be sharing with others – she loves her job and hopes you enjoy the images as much as she does!
Contact: chantalhemmann@gmail.com
Sean Heakes
Sean believes himself to be a wizard using a scrying spell as he operates Thunderbird South. Join him in the magical adventure of gazing deep into time and far across space.