The Iowa Robotic Observatory (IRO) is a 51cm diameter f/6.8 Cassegrain reflecting telescope, owned and operated by the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy. It is stationed at Winer Observatory in the Arizona desert, and operated remotely by students at the University of Iowa.

Explore the Iowa Robotic Observatory website to familiarize yourself with it.

Before you can start thinking about what science questions you want to answer or the details of your observation, first you must choose a science target that is above the horizon at night. IRO has a catalog of many astronomical objects, such as variable stars, asteroids, comets, and Messier objects.

Once you have picked an astronomical object to observe, you need to determine if your science target is above the horizon at night. On the IRO website, you can use the rise and set calculator (RST) to do this. Read through the tutorial on how to read the RST tool. Unless a specific time is requested, the IRO will observe the target ’at transit’ i.e,  when it is transiting the meridian, which is when the target is at the highest elevation for the night. If the target is transiting the meridian during the day, then you must specify a LST start time.

While it is useful to have RST calculator to be accurate for your observations, it is also important to know how to determine if a star is above the horizon without the RST calculator. Remember that we can do this by knowing the right ascension of the Sun in the month of our observations.

Now that you understand how to determine if your target object is observable, you need to decide how you will observe it. The Planning Tools page on the IRO website has information about the telescope specification, filters, and exposure times. Read through the page and examine the examples it gives for both filters and exposure times. It’s important to choose the appropriate filters and exposure times for your object since some filters trace atomic transitions or specific elements. For example, if you wanted to learn about star formation forming in a galaxy, you might use the H alpha filter, and you would need between 60 and 90 seconds of exposure time.

You may find the Making an Observation File page helpful as well.