The dome permanently houses a Meade LX200 12″ Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 3048 mm, reduced to approximately 1920 mm for the purposes of remote operation. The telescope already has a long history in Jihlava, having served for over 15 years at Brána Matky Boží for public night-sky observations. Its original portable alt-azimuth mount had reached the end of its service life. The telescope tube itself underwent extensive servicing before being installed in the dome, and its optics are in excellent condition.
Night-sky tracking is handled by a SkyWatcher EQ8-R Pro equatorial mount, which can carry up to 40 kg of astronomical equipment and is comparable to professional observatories in terms of tracking accuracy. The mount is firmly bolted to a massive metal pier in the dome, ensuring maximum stability and reducing vibrations during observing sessions.
The eyepiece at the end of the telescope has been replaced by advanced technology for automated observation, namely:
Corrector/Reducer: Starizona SCT IV 0.63× – reduces the focal length to 1920 mm (f/6.3) and corrects optical defects (coma) in the telescope’s mirrors.
Guiding: ZWO OAG-L + ZWO ASI 174MM Mini. Ensures accurate sky tracking. Off-axis guiding (using a mirror in the main optical path) is more advantageous for long focal lengths than a separate guide scope due to potential flexure and mechanical play between the main and guiding telescopes.
Autofocuser: PrimaLuceLab ESATTO 2″ Robotic Microfocuser. The primary mirror of the telescope is fixed in position, and automatic focusing is provided by a robotic focuser.
Filter wheel + camera: A Czech-made Moravian Instruments C1x-26000 Mono camera is used for imaging. It is a cooled camera with high sensitivity and low noise. The camera captures images in black and white, and Baader filters in an electronic filter wheel are used to create final color images. We use standard LRGB filters for true-color capture, as well as narrowband H-alpha, OIII, and SII filters for capturing specific wavelengths of light and composing images, for example, in the Hubble palette.
A standard computer is used for control, allowing remote connection via the Internet. A number of specialized programs are used for full operation, including N.I.N.A., PHD2 Guiding, G.S. Server, Platesolve 3.8, and others.
A photo of the final astronomical setup during testing at Astronomy Camp 2025.