Comments on: Slooh brings the heavens to your browser

Slooh's remote-control telescopes connect you with far-away galaxies--and with other users.

[maheider]

Good luck with this business model

Wow, a whole week free, and then $99 a year to watch the stars.

It is one thing to have your own telescope and watch the stars in real time. But lets face it, watching stars in real time on your computer is not going to be appreciably different than watching a simulation, and probably more boring since there is far less you can customize.

NASA makes so many of their wonderful images available to download for free that I guess I can't see why one would want to subscribe to a service providing "real time" viewing. I guess I don't see the value other than novelty, and I think that would wear off quickly, maybe even before the free week ran out.

I might be tempted to spend $10 a year to try it out, but not 10 times that.

[rhuppert]

I want my photons!

I must agree with the first comment. There is a wealth of astronomical information on the web that is much more detailed and free. Regarding the viewing of "live" images, I should point out that the Trifid nebula image is as it was 5500 years ago and hardly live.

There are many amatuer astronomy groups that let people come and view the real thing through fantastic telescopes on most weekends around the world. My feeling is that nothing is as incredible as an actual photon travelling many millions of light years just to hit my retina perched behind the eyepiece of a telescope.

Get up from your computer and go outside and experience the real deal. Virtual experiences are not always the best bet.

[theinterwebs]

Well, a few things here. First, I'm not sure the author of the article really got Slooh. It's not just another web widget. Remote observing is how professional astronomers get things done these days -and it's usually quite complicated. But Slooh makes it simple delivers the experience to anyone for the price of a terrible big box store telescope, or for much less. Yes, I'm a member - and I have a "real" telescope (three actually), i fully enjoy all the free astronomy images on the web, but I don't have the cash to build robotic observatories on mountains. I also love taking astrophotos, which I could also not afford to do well myself or probably see much from my light polluted apartment in the city. For the first poster, I think Slooh's business model is fine since they've been around for 4 years and are building new observatories in Chile and Australia. I don't care how great your telescope is in your backyard, you still can't see southern hemisphere objects or the "night" sky during the day. This is just another way to get into astronomy, there are live shows every night and a great community. I've really gotten more out of my own telescopes at home because of Slooh - and great pictures of faint objects I couldn't catch myself. You can see member pictures on http://www.myslooh.com.

[DilMirch]

Between the first and third comments I think you have a good picture of SLOOH. I have been a member for 18 months and would have to say that it was a good idea that is being killed by the business model.

To make the model work, they've basically had to go with an all volunteer staff. They work long hours as volunteers in exchange for a free account. They are the ones labeled "Team SLOOH". There are only like 3 employees and a few officers. One of the predictable outcomes is that you have to basically let the people working for effectively $.02/hour do what they want, make it fun for them. This means that the original group picked like minded people and you pretty much have to think like them to fit into the "community". While they always talk about thousands, there are only a handfull of members- not Team SLOOH- that have been so for at least a year, and posted more than 50 times in the community Forum. So, if the community aspect is what you're after, you will be disappointed if you are not way to the right of center, preferably an Evangelical, and pro-military involvement. Most new members come into chat a few times and then never again. It doesn't help that they solict grant money from all kinds of schools, etc., and are at pains to make it "family friendly" in a total US sense of that term. I actually say a paying member scolded the other night for writing "sh*t", with the asterik, in the presence of only "Team SLOOH" members. Who and what were they protecting? Guess that's what you have to do though. They actually did get a complaint from a member once about someone stating "life probably has to be carbon based, as carbon is so promiscuous". I'm sorry, "Team SLOOH" are "Team SLOOH", not members. It gets really old and very pedantic to have every question raised debated by the "members" actually being the same 15 Team SLOOH saying "I think the way we have it now is fine". The constant back-slapping can be nauseating. If you're new and don't do that, be very careful not to offend. Very, very brittle egos!

The equipment and the connectivity and location of the observatory was the big draw. Many of the images were of very high quality. Unfortunately, the idea of writing software that can remotely control the telescopes, dome, ancillary equipment and distribute it in a Flash application on the web, became the goal itself, not a method of attaining it. The new observatory in Chile is in a very mediocre site near the lights of Santiago and one really has to wonder why you couldn't just stick a telescope in an Aussies back yard, if those are the levels of transparency you will accept. The point would be that it has to be in the middle of nowhere because that's what the software does.

So, around last November, maintenance ceased, except for dire circumstances, because one of the actual employees- a software engineer, surprise, surprise- decided that SLOOH needed a complete software rewrite. To be fair, it does. All the original code has static references to IP addresses and assumes only one telescope, has hard coded params for the obs, etc. The problem is that it's being done without a timetable, no specifications (unless you count, "can run more than one obs." as a specification), and no one is pushing back the "resume padding" being done by the development team. Already you will have to upgrade your memory, processor and by a $500 software program to even use the new version. The Mission Interface Flash widget, the business end of the system, was rewritten in version 8/9, at the time cutting access off to most their Linux users simply because "Flash V6" doesn't loook good on a resume. I have recompiled the current prog under version 6 and it runs just fine.

While this new development is going on, every time people get totally fed up with it, new hardware is announced. Chile was announced a year ago as "coming soon". The hardware was in place in November, then they STARTED the software development SLOOHers are now awaiting. Chile will not be online until it is finished, which i project as August, fully debugged and all by October. That's a complete guess. We have been given not one date. Not even an approximation or benchmark point. So, when comet Boattini went too far south to observe, a year after Chile's announcement, people were a little annoyed. And a new telescope was announced. And a new observatory. And new domes. Of course you don't get any of this until the software is finished.

SLOOH is a really great idea. Was executed well until they were bought by a guy that has stated that he doesn't see what the bad rep. over the .coms was about. Now banal marketing is replacing that good idea. It's time for amateurs to do the same thing with their backyard scopes and create the amatuer, virtual 1/2 mile telescope!


Bottom line, I'm not renewing my membership until I see the hardware is actually online and what they will expect in terms of FITS file processing and how much they will charge for "advanced observing". That's right, talk about a .com model... The new software will offer raw images, where you have to do the work the software now does, you can wait a year for it, and when it's done we're going to charge you more for the privlege!

[DilMirch]

Someone is on the same wavelength. There's a website, uncensored, for all things SLOOH, at http://www.sloohmembers.com/!

Be VERY careful about giving your money to this company. They make LOTS of promises....but deliver on few. Only ONE scope out of the EIGHT that they advertise is working anywhere near acceptable. 3 of them are off more than they are on. And the remaining 4 haven't produced a usable image YET!! And they've been promising these scopes to members for many months. Slooh is cheaper than other remote scope facilities....and in this case, you get EXACTLY what you pay for....$50 of use a year, or less.

[ThreeSlipsAndAGulley]

Fall, 2009 update: Chile not online. Oz high mag online on clear nights with no reservations possible. Teide Dome 1 has had a new telescope sitting in a crate for a year. Dome 2 is online, with regular high mag. issues. Unlimited memberships limited to 5 reservations/week on Teide. Team SLOOH is history. (Started astronomy.fm in a pout). Now offering a $5.95/month option. Very cheap...if your time is worth nothing!

[LizTheRegina]

Winter, 2009 update: This should make it pretty simple to understand; no faith required. SLOOH announced, and began selling subscriptions for the 1/2 metre in December 2007. Here is the lastest post on the subject:

"Posted by admin: 27 Nov 09 22:06 Post subject: SLOOH 1/2 Meter Telescope

Updates regarding Dome 1 Canary will be posted in the Live Update area of the Launch Pad. We have not announced an installation schedule yet."

But you can buy a subscription today!

. com fraud. Period.