Latin America. Mobotix has been chosen by the Teide Observatory for the installation of its cameras on Mount Teide, and thus be able to broadcast astronomical events, starting with the total lunar eclipse that will take place in the early morning of September 27 to 28.
For the installation, Siempreweb, official partner of Mobotix in the Canary Islands, has manufactured a fiber capsule containing 2 S15D Mobotix cameras, equipped with 6MP lenses of the Moonlight series model L20/B036, F1.8, and that, with a special configuration, will offer a unique view of the four cardinal points, which will give a perfect view of the total eclipse of the Moon.
The cameras, with a 360-degree plane, will be located on the platform where the cable car is located, which means that it will be the fixed IP camera located at the highest point in Spain, exactly at about 3,600 meters of altitude. These cameras can record both the image and the audio, so it will increase the feeling of being at the same peak of Mount Teide.
"Mobotix cameras are ideal, among other reasons, for their high image resolution that reaches 6 megapixels, because each camera has a high-power computer integrated and because they are robust and resistant since they withstand temperatures from -30 to 60 degrees," says Miquel Serra-Ricart, Administrator of the Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islands. "They are German high-tech cameras that have not failed us in 10 years and that is why we wanted to have Mobotix again."
The Moonlight technology of 6 MP is recognized as a benchmark in the market in terms of image quality, it is a revolutionary technology, which is ideal for capturing moving images in color without coming out of focus, even with illuminance levels of 0.5 lux or less. The monochrome solution allows for sharp images of moving objects with illuminance levels of 0.1 lux and below, which is equivalent to an almost dark room or an exterior in the moonlight.
Why the Canary Islands?
Because the Moon at the beginning of totality, will be very high: 60º above the horizon -between 15 and 20º more than in the Iberian Peninsula and 25º above the European average. We will observe it, then, without anything hindering its vision, with "less atmosphere", high transparency and stability, exclusive characteristics of the skies of the Canary Islands.
Tenerife, La Palma and Fuerteventura, are the three Canarian Starlight spaces chosen for the live broadcast of the next Eclipse.
In addition, if we are located on Mount Teide and there is a Total Lunar Eclipse near solar twilight – sunset or sunrise – the shadow of the volcano will align with the full Moon and you can see how the Peak caresses the satellite. The show is reserved, it can only be seen in the highest and loneliest mountains of planet Earth.
The broadcast
The company Wolkam will be in charge of the streaming and SIEMPREWEB of the human and technical infrastructure. This broadcast can be followed, live and live, through the portal www.sky-live.tv.
The images of the eclipse will serve to develop several educational activities aimed at high school students (more information in astroaula.net). These include the calculation of the size of the Earth's shadow from images of the lunar eclipse.
GLObal Robotic telescopes Intelligent Array for e-Science (GLORIA) is a project funded by the European Union of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2012) under the grant agreement 283783. The project is coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Madrid and involves 13 partners (UPM, ASU-CAS, CSIC, CTU, FZU-CAS, IAC, INAF, SAO, UCD, UCH, UMA, UOX, UWAR) from eight countries (Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, Russia, Ireland, United Kingdom, Poland and Chile).
