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Week 1: The night sky

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The COAST telescope dome. The image shows the 3.5-metre diameter white fibreglass dome of the COAST telescope against a blue sky. Volcanic rocks and plants with yellow flowers are in the foreground. The larger dome of sister telescope PIRATE can be seen in the background. Both domes consist of a number of segments, rather like segments of an orange, arranged horizontally. These segments open up when the domes are opened to give the telescopes an uninterrupted view of the night sky. Behind this second dome can be seen the top of the mast holding the all-sky camera and a number of other weather sensors and instruments.

 Introduction