Slooh

Robotic telescope service viewable online

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Slooh.com

Type of site

| Service provider

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Owner| Michael Paolucci (Founder)
URL| slooh.com
Commercial| Yes
Registration| Yes
Launched| December 25, 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 and Siding Spring Australia.[4]

The name Slooh comes from the word "slew" to indicate the movement of a telescope, modified with "ooh" to express pleasure and surprise.

Slooh, LLC is based in Washington, Connecticut.[5]

## History

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The service was founded in 2002 by Michael Paolucci.[1] Its Canary Islands telescope went online December 25, 2003,[1] but was not available to the public until 2004.

## Participating observatories

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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

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* Amateur astronomy
* LightBuckets
* Lists of telescopes

## References

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1. ^ a b c "Founder's Message". Slooh, LLC. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
2. ^ New York NY (SPX) (9 March 2005). "Discovery.com Promotes Slooh Online Telescope To Readers". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
3. ^ US patent 7194146
4. ^ a b c Cassie Rodenberg, "The Best in Armchair Astronomy", Popular Mechanics (March 22, 2010) - Accessed October 2010
5. ^ "Pricing: Frequently Asked Questions: What payment methods do you accept from schools, districts, and colleges?". Slooh, LLC. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
6. ^ "SLOOH - System Specifications". Retrieved September 26, 2012.
7. ^ "MPC 80331- 81072" (PDF). The Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
8. ^ "MPC 89089- 89388" (PDF). The Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2017-12-22.

## Further reading

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* Biggs, John (Oct 9, 2009). "Interview: Mike Paolucci, the Founders of Space Viewing Service Slooh". TechCrunch.

## External links

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* Official website

Portals:

* Chile
* Astronomy
* Stars
* Spaceflight
* Outer space
* Solar System
* Education
* Science