About Us
In 2012, childhood friends Michael Petrasko and Muir Evenden, bonded by their shared passion for astronomy since grade school, conceived an idea. They acquired a high-end 16” f/3.7 astrograph reflecting telescope designed for imaging deep space astronomical objects. However, lacking the space to set up such an advanced telescope, they envisioned an observatory situated in an ideal location for astronomical imaging: high altitude, clear dry air, and, of course, dark skies. This led them on an inspiring journey, the details of which you can explore further in 'Our Story'.
Timeline
2012
The idea was born to host our 16" imaging telescope in a remote observatory and offer it as a resource for public and educational outreach. Our search began for a suitable remote observatory capable of hosting our telescope.
2012-2017
Over the five years between the inception and realization of our goal, we undertook various projects to fund our efforts, including educational outreach programs at various schools in Massachusetts.
2013
We launched a blog to showcase our efforts at Insight Observatory.
2015
We discovered a suitable remote telescope hosting facility in New Mexico named SkyPi Online Observatory. After discussions with the owner, John Evelan, we quickly determined that this location would be ideal for hosting our telescope.
2016
The Astronomical Telescopes for Astronomical Outreach (ATEO) remote telescope network has been established. This network encompasses our current and future remote telescopes, clearly defining their scope and purpose: educational outreach. As we collaborate with other observatories, they become affiliate remote telescopes within our network.
2017
In May 2017, we relocated our telescope from Massachusetts to SkyPi Online Observatory in Pie Town, New Mexico. By October of the same year, we were up and running online!
2019
Insight Observatory's image set repository, Starbase, is implemented and made available to the general public via the internet.
About Our Image Processors
Utkarsh Mishra
Utkarsh holds a position of Expert Image Consultant on the Insight Observatory team. His images have been featured multiple times on APOD (NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day), BBC Sky At Night program and Sky & Telescope magazine.
Ruben Barbosa
Ruben has been an amateur astronomer since 2000 and enjoys promoting astronomy. Ruben currently occupies the 10th position in the all time ranking on Astrobin. Several of his deep sky images have been successively distinguished at an international level.
The Telescopes Behind The Images
ATEO-1
Hosted at SkyPi Remote Observatory in New Mexico, USA. The high altitude (7800 feet) and dry air and remote location provide an ideal location for imaging. Muir Evenden operates this telescope, capturing all the raw and calibrated image data from this remote telescope.
Telescope: Dreamscope 16" f/3.7 Astrograph Reflector
Camera: FLI Proline 16803
Filters: Luminance/Red/Green/Blue/Hydrogen Alpha
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount ME
ATEO-3
This remote telescope is hosted at Deep Sky Chile in the Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile, where the 5990-foot altitude and geographical location provide access to all the spectacular southern hemisphere deep=sky objects. A special thanks to Franck Jobard for his work capturing all the amazing image data with this remote telescope!
Telescope: 12.5" f/9 Quasar Ritchey Chretien
Camera: SBIG STL11000
Filters: Luminance/Red/Green/Blue/Hydrogen Alpha/Oxygen III/Near Infrared
Mount: Losmandy Titan