LightBuckets

File:Eris2009-Nov09-06UT.jpg Eris on a 24-inch (61 cm) aperture LightBuckets telescope]]

File:Orcus-apmag19-2009Dec26-11UT.jpg

File:17Thetis-LB1.jpg imaged, the light in center also from a LB telescope]]

LightBuckets was founded in 2007 by Steve Cullen, a former software executive, and the observatories became active on June 12, 2008.[http://www.chesmontastro.org/?q=node/3602 Home Chesmont Astronomical Society] In 2011, he returned to the software business, and LightBuckets went through a period of change.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

Time on the telescopes is sold either by a subscription or pay as you go. The cost of using one of the telescopes in its global network varies depending on the model. Compared to its contemporaries, LightBuckets allows new images of the sky to be observed, as opposed to Microsoft WorldWide Telescope or Google Sky, which use stored images. It is more similar to Slooh, which also allows live-views from telescopes located in places such as Chile and Spain.[http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/telescopes/4349969 Cassie Rodenberg, "The Best in Armchair Astronomy", Popular Mechanics (March 22, 2010) - Accessed October 2010]

LightBuckets went through an ownership transition in 2011,{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} resulting in a turn-over in what instruments and sites were available. Before then, LightBuckets instruments included Ritchey-Chrétiens by RC Optical Systems including a 0.61 m (24”) f/8 designated LB-0001 and a 0.37 m (14.5") designated LB-0003 both located at the company's observatory in Rodeo, New Mexico. This site is recorded as H11 Rodeo by the Minor Planet Center. LightBuckets also offers a wide-field observatory (LB-0002) in Rodeo, NM which includes a 0.2 m (8") AstroSysteme Austria N8 Newtonian Astrograph. Other instruments are imaging cameras from Apogee Instruments including a high quantum efficiency Alta U42 (LB-0001), a large CCD Alta U16M (LB-0003), and an Alta U8300 (LB-0002). Each camera is equipped with a filter wheel containing a full complement of broadband (LRGB) and narrowband (Ha, SII, and OIII) filters. LB-0001 also offers photometric Johnson/Cousins (from Astrodon) V and Ic filters for researchers.

In 2009 LightBuckets partnered with International Year of Astronomy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lightbuckets-announces-100-hours-of-remote-astronomy-participation-61968852.html|title=LightBuckets Announces 100 Hours of Remote Astronomy Participation|last=LightBuckets|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en|access-date=2017-02-17}} They were a part of 100 Hours of Astronomy Cornerstone Project.

LightBuckets is known to have used domes made by Astro Haven Enterprises in their telescope installations.{{Cite web|url=http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2011/03/23/astronomy-magazine-partners-with-lightbuckets-for-new-image-gallery.aspx|title=Astronomy magazine partners with LightBuckets for new image gallery - Astronomy Magazine - Interactive Star Charts, Planets, Meteors, Comets, Telescopes|website=cs.astronomy.com|access-date=2018-01-21}}

Lightbuckets is now located in France with a new 32 inch robotic telescope (LB-0001) and four other telescopes: LB-0002 a 17" planewave telescope - LB-0003 a FLT 110mm refractor - LB-0004 a TMB 175 mm refractor and LB-0005 an ASA 12" Newtonian telescope on an ASA direct-drive mount.

• Puckett Observatory Supernova Search discovered supernova SN 2008gr in IC 1579 which was confirmed using LightBuckets telescopes at Rodeo, New Mexico, in 2008.[http://cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/001500/CBET001557.txt Daniel W. E. Green, IAU Electronic Telegram No. 1557 (2008 October 30)]
• By October 2009 LightBuckets LB-0001 in Rodeo, NM had been used to discover at least 17 new asteroids with provisional designations.{{cite web |url= http://www.lightbuckets.com/news/37/17-new-asteroids-found-by-lightbuckets |title= 17 New Asteroids Found by LightBuckets |first= Steve |last= Cullen |date= October 5, 2009 |publisher= LightBuckets |accessdate= 16 June 2011 }}{{Self-published inline|date=October 2010}} LightBuckets LB-0001 was recorded as a ".68m f/8 Ritchey-Chrétien" by the Minor Planet Center at H11 Rodeo.[http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2010/MPC_20100130.pdf MPC 68175-68624 (2010 January 30), Page 175, "H11 Rodeo"]
• In September 2010, LightBuckets LB-0001 was part of a group of instruments to confirm gamma ray burst (GRB) GRB100901A.{{cite web |url=http://www.lightbuckets.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3096#post3096 |title=GRB100901A Observed w/ LB-0001 - LightBuckets Online Telescopes |website=www.lightbuckets.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713204956/http://www.lightbuckets.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3096 |archive-date=2011-07-13}} {{Self-published inline|date=October 2010}}
• On May 18, 2011, LightBuckets announced that it will be ceasing operations in Rodeo, NM in the near future.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} LightBuckets had imaged for over 4,300 hours, had executed more than 5,400 customer imaging runs, and had over 680 customers.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
• A new telescope, LB-0006, a 0.43m (17") 0.43m (17") Dall Kirkham, in France, South Alpen appears on startsite in August 2011.

• Astrophotography
• Kitt Peak Advanced Observing Program
• List of astronomical observatories
• Software Bisque
• Slooh

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.lightbuckets.com/}}
• [http://www.chesmontastro.org/?q=node/3602 LightBuckets opening news release]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/garden/04observatories.html?pagewanted=all Adding an Extra Room for the Sky - New York Times (article with information about founder Steve Cullen)]

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Category:American companies established in 2007

Category:Astronomical observatories in New Mexico

Category:Buildings and structures in Hidalgo County, New Mexico