Slooh
 |
Type of site | Service provider |
|---|---|
| Owner | Michael Paolucci (Founder) |
| URL | slooh.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Yes |
| Launched | June 26, 2003[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Slooh is a robotic telescope service that can be viewed live through a web browser. It was not the first robotic telescope, but it was the first that offered "live" viewing through a telescope via the web.[2] Other online telescopes traditionally email a picture to the recipient. The site has a patent on their live image processing method.[3] Slooh is an online astronomy platform with live-views and telescope rental for a fee.[4] Observations come from a global network of telescopes located in places including Spain and Chile.[4]
The name Slooh comes from the word "slew" to indicate the movement of a telescope, modified with "ooh" to express pleasure and surprise.
History[edit]
The service was founded in 2002 by Michael Paolucci. As of October 2009, Paolucci remains as chairman.[5] The service went online December 25, 2003 but was not available to the public until 2004.
Participating observatories[edit]
The original astronomical observatory is located on the island Tenerife in the Canary Islands on the volcano called Teide. The site is at the 2,300-metre (7,500 ft) elevation[6] and situated away from city light pollution. This (Canary Islands) site includes 2 domes, each with 2 telescopes. Each dome has a high-magnification telescope and a wide-field telescope. One dome is optimized for planetary views (e.g., more magnification and a different CCD), and the other is optimized for deep sky objects (e.g., less magnification, more light sensitive CCD). Each dome offers 2 telescopic views: one high magnification (narrow field) view through a 14-inch (360 mm) Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope; and a wide view through either a telephoto lens or an APO refractor. In 2012, the Slooh.com Canary Islands Observatory was assigned observatory code G40.[7]
On February 14, 2009, Slooh launched a second observatory in the hills above La Dehesa, Chile. This site offers views from the Southern Hemisphere. In 2014, the Slooh.com Chile Observatory was assigned observatory code W88.[8]
Unlike Google Sky which features images from the Hubble Space Telescope, Slooh can take new images of the sky with its telescopes.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "slooh.com - Traffic Details from Alexa". Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ New York NY (SPX) (9 March 2005). "Discovery.com Promotes Slooh Online Telescope To Readers". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ US patent 7194146
- ^ a b c Cassie Rodenberg, "The Best in Armchair Astronomy", Popular Mechanics (March 22, 2010) - Accessed October 2010
- ^ "SLOOH - About Us". Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ "SLOOH - System Specifications". Retrieved September 26, 2012.
- ^ "MPC 80331- 81072" (PDF). The Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ "MPC 89089- 89388" (PDF). The Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
Further reading[edit]
- Biggs, John (Oct 9, 2009). "Interview: Mike Paolucci, the Founders of Space Viewing Service Slooh". TechCrunch.
