A bit of history
Our initial photos were obtained from our backyard during the COVID lockdown times and under highly contaminated conditions by the city lights (Bortle 7). Soon after the lockdown, we started traveling to darker sites in order to acquire data under better sky conditions. For long term observing projects which demands extended integration time, we use a small optical setup at the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment - APEX control base in San Pedro de Atacama.
Although the history of "Cluster One Observatory" has its roots dating back to 1994, we were formally established as a family project during the total eclipse of the Sun on July 2, 2019.
Since that eclipse, we have grown hand-in-hand with some highlights:
2019, July 2nd - Total Solar Eclipse
2019, September 9th - First Sky tracker
2019, October 4th - Purchase of William Optics SpaceCat
2020, March 14th - Purchase of our first astronomical dedicated camera (ZWO ASI178)
2020, March 20th - Purchase of SharpStar 15028 HNT, iOptron CEM40 mount and QHY294
2020, May 21st - AstroBin account creation
2020, November 29th - Publication of our picture of M7 in book “The Messier Catalog Workbook”
2021, November 6th - Participation in the first national meeting of “AstroAdictos”, Alcohuaz.
2022, January 10th - First observations from the APEX control base in San Pedro de Atacama.
2022, September 6th - ZWO AM5 replaced the iOptron CEM26
2022, November 1st - First mosaic project towards the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)
2023, January 1st - Largest mosaic project towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
2023, February 2nd - “Cluster One” registered as intellectual property in Chile
2023, January 8-11 - Cluster One Observatory poster presented at the APEX Ringberg conference, Germany.
2023, February 11th - The Magellanic Clouds over Chile picture got featured as the Nasa Picture of the Day (APOD)
2023, June 9th - www.clusteroneobservatory.com goes online
2023, June 20th - Cluster One Observatory web site featured in the news section of North Optics. Thanks Rodrigo Zelada
2023, November 8th - Cluster one observatory astro-photos under exhibition at the “Congreso Internacional de Astronomia Amateur 2023” (CIAA2023)
How did we get here ?
Certainly with a huge quota of hard work and endless motivation. But the last won’t be possible with with the help and inspiration of many people, that we would like to acknowledge in this section.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to Rodrigo Zelada, who runs a local company based in La Serena, named North Optics, bringing specialized astronomical and top-of-the-line equipment for anyone interested in astronomy, either observational or astro-photography. Almost every piece in our setup has been bought to North Optics.
A special word goes to our friends of Astro Adictos and Astro Coquimbo, whose members are living examples of knowledge, experience and, on top of that and even more important, are amazing friends willing to help and share their passion about astro-photography.
Also we’d like to share very special words of recognition to Carlos Sagan and his wonderful youtube channel Desierto Cósmico. In his channel, Carlos reviews equipment and very informative hands-on experience about telescopes, cameras and just everything involved behind every astro-photo.
Last but not the least, to all the masters of astro-photography of the "Asociacion Chilena de Astronomia y Astronautica”, ACHAYA, who are constantly sharing their passion and enthusiasm about this amazing hobby.