Design and construction of an astronomical online observatory

Abstract

This article describes the development of a Web platform and electronic circuit necessary to adapt the Astronomical Observatory of the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, operating as an online observatory that can be controlled remotely, becoming the first of its kind in the country. Likewise, the flowcharts of the developed application are presented in order to manage user and administrator profiles, as well as the hardware elements involved in the process of handling the telescope position, the rotation of the dome, opening and closing of the gates, on and off of the internal lighting, and video streaming from inside the observatory. The developed system is available in the website http://observatorioenlinea.utp.edu.co/, and provides access to the academic community that brings together researchers in topics related to astronomy, leaving behind the need to incur time and money to the physical movement of the researcher from the different existing study centers around the country to the observatory.