Fairborn Observatory has constructed and operates eight automated
photometric telescopes, the oldest being in constant operation since
1983. Four more are currently under construction. The staff of
Fairborn Observatory consists of engineers. The telescopes are used by
astronomers around the world primarily at astronomy departments in
colleges and universities. Using Fairborn Observatory's services
provides those astronomers with a reliable source of high quality
scientific data. Benefits include high equipment utilization, having a
dedicated instrument for long time sequence studies, freeing of
astronomer's time to study data instead of pointing telescopes,
minimizing travel costs and time, reduced errors thorough automation,
and reduced costs of shared facilities such as power, communications,
weather sensing, and security. The colleges and universities we serve
have found this approach to be a low cost method for obtaining research
data for their faculty and students. The users have full control over
scheduling their instruments. As Fairborn Observatory does not have
astronomers on staff we demand no observing time beyond that required
for maintenance.
The Fairborn Observatory is located on 40 acres in the Patagonia
mountains of southern Arizona with another adjacent 20 acres available
if needed. The land consists of privately owned patented mining claims
surrounded by national forest. This minimizes environmental impact
studies for new construction requiring only county approval of
construction plans. There are a few acres of mountain top available for
construction of additional observing facilities. Our stated mission is
to do research in automated astronomy so are interested in designing,
constructing, and operating systems where our services would assist the
astronomical research community.
Please contact us if our service might be of assistance to your
project.