Hemlock Crossing Public Observatory (HCPO) has several types of equipment (telescopes, filters, and cameras) for observing different astronomical objects.
The Dome
Weather protection is provided by a Technical Innovations 15-foot fiberglass PRO-DOME. The dome has an electrically raised observing slit and electrically driven dome rotation system.
Meade 16″ LX600 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
Our main instrument is a Meade LX600 16-inch (406.4mm) f/8 (3251mm focal length) Advanced Coma-Free Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) with a computer controlled fork mount that finds and tracks various astronomical objects. In addition, we have Meade 28, 21, and 15mm Series 5000 2-inch eyepieces and a Baader 9mm Morpheus eyepiece for visual observing, along with several filters.
Deep-sky & Planetary Cameras
The deep-sky camera is a ZWO ASI2400MC Pro cooled color camera with a 6072 x 4042 pixel sensor. The planetary camera is a ZWO ASI662MC color camera with a 1920 x 1080 pixel sensor. Both utilize a ZWO ASIair Plus for camera control and data acquisition.
Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA)
The EAA setup consists of a Meade Infinity 102mm f/6 achromatic refractor with a ZWO 585MM monochrome camera and a ZWO ASIair Plus for camera control and data acquisition, all mounted atop the 16-inch LX600. This allows EAA imaging of faint objects within a few minutes. The images are displayed as they develop in real-time outside the dome on a 32-inch television screen via a WiFi link.
White-light Solar Filter
A white light solar filter mounted on the LX600 cuts the light from the sun to 1/100,000th its normal intensity and allows an observer to safely see sunspots on the sun.
Coronado 90mm Solar Telescope
SAAA has a Coronado 90mm SolarMax III Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Telescope that can be mounted on a permanent pier with a Celestron CGX-L equatorial mount for visual and photographic solar observing sessions. The H-alpha image was captured with the Coronado scope on Spring Astronomy Day 2026.
Meade 12″ Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
There is a permanent pier just south of the dome that we can mount various optical tube assemblies on. The Meade 12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope can be attached to our Celestron CGX-L equatorial mount controlled by a ZWO ASIair Plus. The photo of the Trifid Nebula taken with this setup demonstrates the quality of astrophoto that can be achieved.