Robotic Telescopes Bremen, T. Granzer, AIP Current Earth-bound projects

Why?  Costs  Efficiency/speed  Constant data quality  (Arbitrary) long programs  Network: full phase coverage weather independent

Why not?  Troubleshooting  Software demands

Costs Largest telescopes (VLT, Keck): ~100 M $ Hubble Space Telescope: ~6000 M $ Robotic telescope (1.5m): ~1 M $

AI replaces astronomer  Protect the instrument  Judge weather  Select targets  Operate instruments in right sequence

Protect the instrument  Monitor all system failures  Monitor environment condition weather(!), computer health, UPS  Emergency plan repair, use of partly defect system

Judge weather  Immediately react on critical conditions wind speed, humidity  Predict weather …saves time  Seeing, clouds optimize target selection

The scheduling problem  Traditionally: A few nights, few targets tailored to observing period  Robotic: Span entire seasons, lots of targets An ad-hoc approach not feasible

Approaches: Queue scheduling:  Prescribe a distinct timeline  Easy to implement  Needs lots of human interference  Cannot react to changing conditions

Approaches (cont‘d): Optimal scheduling:  Optimize schedule for given time-base.  CPU-intense (  N! - permutations).  Unpredicted changes of conditions break schedule.  Difficult with changing weather, but used in space.

Approaches (cont‘d): Dispatch scheduling:  Picks target according to actual conditions.  Must run in real-time, but  N  Allows easy reaction to weather changes.  Used on most current robotic systems.

Current projects Hawaii Australia Texas La Palma / Tenerife South Africa Chile Arizona

Fairborn Observatory Washington Camp, Arizona

Fairborn Observatory  14 robotic telescopes, 0.1-2m  First installation world-wide  Mainly Photometry

REM  Focuses on  -ray bursts  SWIFT satellite triggers Earth- bound telescopes  Robotic telescopes can react within seconds. Chile, fully robotic

Project Monet Alfred Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Stiftung

2x1.2m telescopes  Univ. Göttingen, SAAO, McDonald Observatory  App. 50% of total time for 'Hands- On Universe' school-projects

Liverpool & Faulkes  3x 2m Telescopes in La Palma, Hawaii and Australia  Again emphazises acces for schools and students  Robotic & remote modi

Twin-telescope STELLA  Tenerife / Teide  2400m Altitude  2x 1,2m telescopes  AIP/IAC STELLA

Two 1.2m & 0.8m, f/8 Alt/Az telescopes Project STELLA STELLA-I  Echelle Spectrograph, R   2kx2k Marconi chip STELLA-II  Wide-field imager, 22’ FoV, Strømgren filters  4kx4k STA chip

Supplying targets: SCS Group of operators Users ToO upload XML target definition

What's next? Antarctica, Dome C  Exceptional seeing (0".27)  Ideal for AO & IR (high isoplanatic angle of 7".9)  'Half step' to Moon/Space see also Lawrence, Nature 431, 278L

lower pic. Margot/Cornell U  Passive cooling to 50K  Stable platform  No Expendables, no gyros  Fixed telescope for ultra- deep fields  Data rate ~50Mbyt/s see also Angel, SPIE 5487, p.1

…but start realistic  Start with a ~4m precursor  Experience with 4m class robotic telescopes (~10 ys.)  Possible benefits from Antarctica telescopes (~10 ys.)

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