1. Virtual Visits to Astronomical Observatories M. Serra-Ricart (mserra@iac.es) L. Martínez (lms@iac.es) L. Cuesta (lcc@iac.es) Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

2. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. Canarian Observatories. Location. Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos, La Caldera de Taburiente National Park La Caldera de Taburiente, La Palma, Spain. Observatorio del Teide, El Teide National Park El Teide, Tenerife, Spain.

3. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. Observatorio del Teide Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos 26 TELESCOPE INSTALATIONS 16 SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS 19COUNTRIES Managed by IAC. Decisions through CCI.

4. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. Outreach activities. Observatory visits. IAC Goal  Outreach activities  Observatory visits. Every year more than 10,000 people visit both Observatories, but: telescope domessecurity reasonsoperating 1) the visitors cannot enter to telescope domes due to security reasons or because the telescope is operating (solar installations during day time). numberlowlimited 2) the number of visitors is low and limited. 1) Visitors “enter” to telescope domes and they see instrumentation. 2) Worldwide visitors only limited by Observatory internet link. Virtual Visit Virtual Visit approach solve previous problems.

5. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs. 1) WEBcams. 2) Dedicated Software. 3) Internet link. 3 fixed IP-cameras - 3 fixed IP-cameras (axis 2100) max resolution 640x480 pixels max fps 5 10 pan/tild/zomm - 10 pan/tild/zomm IP-cameras (axis 2130). max resolution 704-480 pixels max fps 30 -3 areas. Administrator Administrator area (Flash-Actionscript-PHP-MySQL). Astronomer Astronomer area (Flash-Actionscript-PHP-MySQL). Web Web area (PHP-MySQL). -Data rate is 20Kbytes/s/pax for 50 pax  1 Mbyte/s

6. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Administrator area. Camera definition.Administrator area For all the cameras fixed dimentions  352x240 pixels Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

7. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Administrator area. View definitions.Administrator area Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

8. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Administrator area. Astronomer definitions.Administrator area Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

9. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Administrator area. Visit definitions.Administrator area Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

10. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Astronomer area. Internal visitors.Astronomer area Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

11. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Web area. External visitors.Web area Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.

12. Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005 ESO HQ, Garching, München, Germany. 2) Dedicated Software. Web area. A new problem.Web area Approachs: Night telescopes -Night telescopes. 1- External photometer if there is light go on… 2- web order (set in view definitions menu) lights turn on… 3- after 1 minute lights turn off. Solar telescopes -Solar telescopes. Open domes. 1- Internal photometer if there is NO light go on… 2- web order lights turn on… 3- after 1 minute lights turn off. Solar telescopes -Solar telescopes. Closed domes  infrared webcams. Virtual Visit tests in Observatorio del Teide. Needs.