Below you will find a video guide and cheat-sheet for our new observing interface. If you have any support questions please direct them to the support your education partner provides and not LCO.
To log in please go to:
Observing Portal
Cheat Sheet
The first page you are directed to upon logging in to your LCO observing account is your Observation Homepage.
On this page you will see a list of your previous observation requests and their current status.
Along the top of the page you'll see several links, select ‘Submit Observation' to begin.
This page is made up of an observation request form. Start by entering a request title as indicated at the top of the page, this is for your own reference only.
Then select a proposal from the dropdown menu. (You will likely only have one proposal option, so don't worry too much about this).
Next, you must select a class of telescope to perform your observation. Either the ‘2-metre’ class,‘1-metre’ class or '0.4-metre' class.
For detailed information about the different classes, visit lco.global/observatory/telescopes/
Selecting your target object is the next step. Do this by by entering the object name where indicated.
The next two fields are celestial coordinates, indicating the object's position on the sky. These will appear automatically if the target name you select is valid.
Next, you will need to set the telescope exposure settings, choose how many observations you'd like and select which filter you wish to use. Visit out FAQ page for advise on exposure times: lco.global/education/observing/faq/
If you would like to observe your target using multiple filters (e.g. to make a full-colour image), duplicate this box using the button indicated, and enter the new filter.
Finally, enter a time window within which you need your observations returned.
Once this is done, you will notice a plot appear on the left showing the visibility of your target object during this period.
Once all of your targets have been added and you are ready to submit your observation request, click ‘Submit’ at the top of the page.
On submit you will be taken to a page listing the details of your observation request, including its status. You can also access this page from your homepage, just click on the request title.
When your observation is completed you can access the data from this page by clicking "Download".