LasCumbresObservatoryAGlobalRoboticTelescopeNetworkforTime-DomainAstronomy

MartinDominikKeithHorne,AndrewCameron,AleksScholz

(StAndrews)

ToddBoroson(LCO)

3 sizes, identical robotic telescopes and instrumentationuniform central data processing and scheduling

round-the-clock coverage of the full sky

uninterrupted time seriesrapid reponse

transients(e.g.SNe,GRBs,MLevents,TDFs…)variablebrightness(e.g.planetarytransits,stellarrotation,AGNreverberationmapping,novae…)variablespectrum(e.g.RVplanets,asteroseismology…)movingobjects(e.g.NEOs,TNOs…)

upfront investment, need to recover recurring operation costs→ willing to sell off some time

3360 hrs/year on 1m networkexchangeable for 2m or 0.4m time

3 southern 1m telescopes

Mounting Equatorial C-ring

Basic Optics f/8 Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain

Slewing speed 6 deg/sec

Tracking accuracy w/o guiding

0.5″ RMS

Blind pointing accuracy 3..10″

LCO 1m (purpose-designed and built in-house)

Mounting Altitude-Azimuth

Basic Optics f/10 Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain

Slewing speed 2 deg/sec

Servo settling time < 5 sec

Blind pointing accuracy 3..10″

LCO 2m (FTN & FTS, clones of LT)

complete Johnson-Cousins/Bessell set (UBVRI) SDSS/PanSTARRS set (u’g’r’i’z’sYw)

narrowband filters CPT/LSC and 2m only: Hα, Hβ

2m only: OIII, D51, Skymapper CaV

Quasi-continuous uninterrupted time-series observations“Sinistro” Imager: Fairchild CCD-486 BI (4K×4K @ 15µm) 0.39″/pixel, FoV 26.5′×26.5′

“NRES” High-resolution Spectrograph: Optical Echelle Spectrograph (380..860nm) R~53 000, ≤ 3 m/s, fiber-fed

“Spectral” Imager: Fairchild CCD-486 (4K×4K @ 15µm) 0.15″/pixel, FoV 10.5′×10.5′

“FLOYDS” Spectrograph: cross-dispersed, R~400..700 540..1000/320..570nm in 1st/2nd order

1m

2m

Instrumentation

https://lco.global/observatory/instruments/

LCO 0.4m network

access for educational projects free of charge (sponsored by LCOGT)open to everybody

primarily for educational projects,but also available for science observations

SBIG STL-6303 camera: Kodak KAF-6303 CCD (3K×2K @ 9µm) 0.57″/pixel, FoV 29.2′×19.5′

Sloan u', g', r', i', z' Johnson-Cousins B, V

Pan-STARRS w

Filters

Automated scheduling of observations

observing requests to be submitted through

network factually operates like a single telescope

API available for automating observing requests(computer talking to computer)

built on top of Django Python Web framework

Target Observation Manager (TOM) toolkit

open-source software packagefor building database-driven systems

to handle the flood of information on targets, observations, and data products

(“Target Observation Managers”)

https://tomtoolkit.github.io/R.A. Street et al., 2018, SPIE, 10707, 11

TOMDatabase TargetHarvesterLibrary

ObservingFacilityInterface ObservationProductRetrievalLibrary

CoreViewsLibrary DataExchangeLibrary

ProjectViewsInterface TargetSelectionInterface

ObservationStrategyInterface DataAnalysisInterface

Rapid, flexible, programmable access to world-class telescope facilities

request highly-flexible queue-scheduled observations from any participating facility using standardised, programmable interfaces

(supported by the TOM Toolkit)

Discussion Points1)Whyarewe(StAndrews)intheOpticonTNA?

➔ Wehaveongoingoperatingcoststhatcanberecoveredbyofferingobservingtime➔ Buildinterestinandcollaborationsusingtherobotictelescopenetwork

forTime-DomainAstrophysics2)ImpactifTNAfundingstops:

➔ Weneedtoseekfundingfromothersources(successnotguaranteed)3)WhatdowewantfromTelescopeDirectors’Forum?

➔ Explorehowwecanfurthercontribute/benefit.➔ Specificinterest:enablingcoordinatedobservationsacrossfacilities

4)Likelychangesinourownership/partnership?➔ Noneanticipated.

5)Changestooperationalmodels?➔ Nosuchplans.

6)ToOcapabilities:➔ Standardflexiblequeue-schedulingisreevaluatedevery10mins.Rapidresponsetimeisa

(uniform)distributionbetween1minand11min.7)Instrumentationplans:

➔ NetworkintegrationofSOAR4.1mbymid-2019,Gemini8mtofollow➔ Sinistroimagers:fast-readoutmodesforhighduty-cyclecontinuousmonitoring➔ FeedNRESspectrographstotwo1mtelescopesandachieve3m/stargetprecision➔ Multi-bandcameras,potentiallyincludingnear-IR(TBD)