The Renovated Thacher Observatory and First Science Results

Abstract

Located on the campus of the Thacher School in Southern California, the Thacher Observatory has a legacy of astronomy research and education that dates back to the late 1950's. In 2016, the observatory was fully renovated with upgrades including a new 0.7-m telescope, a research grade camera, and a slit dome with full automation capabilities. The low-elevation site is bordered by the Los Padres National Forest and therefore affords dark to very dark skies allowing for accurate and precise photometric observations. We present a characterization of the site including sky brightness, weather, and seeing, and we demonstrate the on-sky performance of the facility. Our primary research programs are based around our multi-band photometric capabilities and include photometric monitoring of variable sources, a nearby supernova search and followup program, a quick response transient followup effort, and exoplanet and eclipsing binary light curves. Select results from these programs are included in this work which highlight the broad range of science available to an automated observatory with a moderately sized telescope.

20 pages, 18 figures, PASP accepted

References in corpus (7)

• Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) I. Design, Commissioning, and First Science Results
• SN 2019ehk: A Double-Peaked Ca-rich Transient with Luminous X-ray Emission and Shock-Ionized Spectral Features
• Discovery of the Fastest Early Optical Emission from Overluminous SN Ia 2020hvf: A Thermonuclear Explosion within a Dense Circumstellar Environment
• High-precision multi-band time-series photometry of exoplanets Qatar-1b and TrES-5b
• SN 2019muj -- a well-observed Type Iax supernova that bridges the luminosity gap of the class
• No variations in transit times for Qatar-1 b
• Detection of the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b in the Ks band

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• Type II-P Supernova Progenitor Star Initial Masses and SN 2020jfo: Direct Detection, Light Curve Properties, Nebular Spectroscopy, and Local Environment
• Normal or transitional? The evolution and properties of two type Ia supernovae in the Virgo cluster
• Weak Mass Loss from the Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II SN 2021yja