The MASTER-II-Ural telescope was manufactured by OAO Optika Moscow Association and was installed in Kourovka in 2008 as a part of a global MASTER robotic Net. The main goal of the MASTER project is performing a synoptic sky survey in order to find various optical transients, i.e. search for GRBs, SN and Novae discoveries, minor-planet and comet observations and discoveries. Also the MASTER-II-Ural telescope is used for research of open clusters and observations of transiting exoplanets.

The telescope consists of a pair of 40 cm Hamilton catadioptric tubes with the focal length of 100 cm, installed on a equatorial mount. CCD cameras are Apogee Alta U16M with front-illuminated KODAK KAF-16803 chip with anti-blooming: size of a chip is 4096x4096 pixels; pixel size is 9x9 μm; CCD gain in e/ADU is 1.3; readout noise in e/pix is 10. Image scale is 1.85 arcsec/pix and field of view is 2°x2°. Observations can be performed simultaneously in two filters (Johnson-Cousins BVRI system, H-α, Red Continuum), or in two different polarization planes.

Observing time on the MASTER-II-Ural telescope is open to proposers from other scientific organizations. To submit your proposal please contact Mr. Vadim Krushinsky via krussh [at] gmail [dot] com (e-mail).

Geographical location: φ=57°02'12.1"N, λ=59°32'50.18"E, h=290m above sea level.

Basic features of the MASTER-II-Ural telescope

Typical photometric precision

The maximum photometric precision of 0.004^m has been achieved for observations of transiting exoplanets. 

The figure below shows the standard deviation of the magnitude versus the magnitude for the bands R (left) and I (right) derived from NGC188 photometric observations.

Photometry for 5513 stars in the range of magnitudes from 11 to 17 with a corresponding accuracy from 0.006^m to 0.05^m (in band R) was carried out in field of 90′×90′ with 180 seconds exposure.

Publications using observations from the MASTER-II-Ural telescope:

1. Popov, A. A., Krushinsky, V. V., Avvakumova, E. A., Burdanov, A. Y., Punanova, A. F., Zalozhnih, I. S., "New variable stars in the field of open cluster NGC188", 2013, OEJV, 157, 1 (2013OEJV..157....1P)
2. Burdanov A. Y., Popov A. A., Krushinsky V. V., Ivanov K., "Two Transiting Exoplanet Candidates in Cygnus from the MASTER Project", 2013, Peremennye Zvezdy, 33, 2 (2013PZ.....33....2B)
3. Burdanov, A. Y., Krushinsky, V. V., Denisenko, D., Popov, A. A., Avvakumova, E. A., Zalozhnih, I. S., Punanova, A. F., "Discovery of Possible Dwarf Nova in Cygnus USNO-B1.0 1413-0363790", 2012, Peremennye Zvezdy Prilozhenie, vol.12, no. 24 (2012PZP....12...24B)
4. Gorbovskoy, E. S., Lipunova, G. V., Lipunov, V. M., Krushinski, V. V., Zalozhnich, I. S., Popov, A. A., et al., "Prompt, early and afterglow optical observations of five γ-ray bursts: GRB 100901A, GRB 100902A, GRB 100905A, GRB 100906A and GRB 101020A", 2012, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 421, Issue 3, pp. 1874-1890 (2012MNRAS.421.1874G)
5. Kornilov, V. G., Lipunov, V. M., Gorbovskoy, E. S., Krushinski, V. V., Zalozhnich, I. S., Popov, A. A., et al., "Robotic optical telescopes global network MASTER II. Equipment, structure, algorithms", 2012, Experimental Astronomy, vol. 33, Issue 1, pp.173-196 (2012ExA....33..173K)
6. Punanova, A. F., Loktin, A. V., Krushinsky, V. V., Popov, A. A., "CCD VRI photometry of the old open cluster NGC 7142", 2012, Advances in Astronomy and Space Physics, vol. 2, p.11-14 (2012AASP....2...11P)
7. Punanova, A. F., Popov, A. A., Krushinsky, V. V., Avvakumova, E. A., Zalozhnih, I. S., Burdanov, A. Y., "New Variable Stars in the Field of the Open Cluster NGC 7142", 2011, Peremennye Zvezdy Prilozhenie, vol.11, no.32 (2011PZP....11...32P)
8. Popov, A. A., Krushinsky, V. V., Avvakumova, E. A., Punanova, A. F., Zalozhnih, I. S., Burdanov, A. Y., "New Variable Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 7129", 2011, Peremennye Zvezdy Prilozhenie, vol.11, no.27 (2011PZP....11...27P)
9. Krushinsky, V. V., Zalozhnih, I. S., Popov, A. A., Avvakumova, E. A., "Discovery of Variability for NOMAD-1 1127-0027360", 2010, Peremennye Zvezdy Prilozhenie, vol.10, no. 30 (2010PZP....10...30K)
10. Tyurina, N., Lipunov, V., Kornilov, V., Krushinsky, V., Zalozhnyh, I., et al., "MASTER Prompt and Follow-Up GRB Observations", 2010, Advances in Astronomy, article id. 763629 (2010AdAst2010E..63T)
11. Lipunov, V., Kornilov, V., Gorbovskoy, E., Krushinsky, V., Zalozhnyh, I., Popov, A., et al., "Master Robotic Net", 2010, Advances in Astronomy, article id. 349171 (2010AdAst2010E..30L)