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Next CAS Meeting
February 5, 2025
McCormick Observatory at 7 PM -
A Pointing Error Model
for the LMO 26” Telescope
Tom Black & Dave Sappington -
Abstract: We cover the history of the 26” telescope and how this led to its current capabilities. We discuss the causes of the scope's pointing accuracy limitations, and a method for measuring and correcting pointing errors. Using this pointing error model, targets can be centered in the telescope’s field of view quickly and easily.
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CV:
Tom Black grew up in upstate New York. He studied at UVA under an Air Force ROTC scholarship graduating in 1980 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. He served as an Air Force Officer and in 1985 received an MS degree in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. After leaving the AF he worked on long range missile defense systems for Hughes Aircraft Company. He left Hughes in 1991, returning to Charlottesville, and continued working on missile interceptors at SenSci Corporation. Since 2005 he worked at Sensor Concepts and Applications, providing engineering analysis and field test support to the US Army and Customs and Border Patrol. He joined CAS in 2023.
Dave Sappington grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and graduated from UVa’s School of Engineering and Applied Science with BS degrees in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Along with two UVa colleagues, Dave later formed the Charlottesville engineering company Commonwealth Computer Research, Inc. aka CCRi. Over the years CCRi developed data analytics and software solutions for a variety of commercial and governmental clients. After General Atomics acquired CCRi in 2021, Dave had more time for other pursuits including CAS, which he joined in 2021.
