I happened on a project that could result in $$ for the club or advanced club members:

See this website:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/projects/3304146.html

It may be out of the reach for me and my equipment, and many other club members, but with some members and club equipment, maybe.

A great idea, Leonard. I didn't know the award exists, so thanks for the information. The award amount is a little low considering the cost of the equipment to do the program properly is relatively expensive....at least for the CCD equipment.

We have a telescope large enough to do the program with the 14". Its already computer-controlled and capable of being rigged for autonomous operation by remote manipulation, but we'd need a couple of items to make it really capable of any success.

These would be a focal reducer and a somewhat larger chip in a better camera than the Meade DSI cameras we currently have. There are a few possibilities in the price range of between $1,750 and $2,500, which is about all I'd think we might afford, and even then not until sometime later down the road.

The focal reducer would be a good addition for us in the near future, though. They aren't very expensive and they reduce the focal length of both the 14" as well as the C-5 SCT by one-third. There is another reducer designed for CCD imaging only that would reduce the focal ratios by TWO-thirds. These reducers automatically increase the field-of-view which is essential for searching areas of the sky more efficiently.

I would LOVE to have a setup to do this program or something like it. Its a true statement that amateur astronomers of today have more capabilities (in equipment) than ever before to make ever-increasingly important and impressive contributions to the professional realm of astronomical research.

Maybe someday we'll have the means to do this, and its a very good possibility that once we get the final few items we need to do guided imaging and astrophotography we can then be starting our own serious attempts at this. Let's keep our fingers crossed that someday we might attain the better equipment we'd need for our own serious attempt, too!

Bob - Caretaker, Coleman Observatory

Here is the clickable link to the article on the Sky & Tel website.