ASA AstroSysteme Austria

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Optical Guidance Systems

Geschichte

The digital age has led to a quantum leap in astrophotography, making even the furthest galaxies accessible to professional astronomers and observatories. Now, thanks to Astrosysteme Austria (ASA) even keen amateurs can observe and photograph these remote solar systems at an accessible price.

ASA prides itself on making research-grade telescopes for the semi-professional as well as optical guidance system for the professional markets that incorporate the latest astrophotographic technologies available. The company consistently renders all components of the optics, mount and tracking systems to precise professional requirements. Of particular pride are their ground-breaking Astrographs, on fixed mounts with direct motion drives that use similar tracking capability to professional observatories.

This has been made possible by employing high-resolution encoders installed directly on the axes of the mount. Previously, even the finest astronomical mounts relying solely on mechanics couldn’t solve the problems occurring during a common astronomical imaging session. And well-engineered, electronic solutions – available to professional observatories – came with a prohibitive price tag. By manufacturing high precision equipment in series ASA reduced the expense of such state-of-the-art solutions without any compromise in performance at all.

Furthermore, the level of performance that results from direct drive and encoder feedback means that the telescope has no need of additional guiding systems or adaptive optics. Now, tracking operations can instantly adjust and compensate for disruptions, including something as fleeting as a brief gust of wind. Helped by the excellent tracking accuracy ASA mounts begin to pay for themselves immediately and can be used in the field and in any remote-controlled operations.

The professional market has also greatly benefited from ASA's innovative products in sustaining this precision at a much better cost. The pointing precision of ASA systems reach ±3 arc seconds over the whole night sky. The tracking precision at 0.24 arc seconds RMS is sufficient to make extra guiding equipment and corrections obsolete.