Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

1. Las Cumbres ObservatoryGlobal Telescope Network (www.LCOGT.net) Presentation for Microlensing Workshop November 13, 2008 Mike Falarski VP of Operations

2. Establish and build a durable scientific institution dedicated to time-domain astrophysics Use astronomical research to inspire critical thinking & technical understanding in young people The LCOGT Mission

3. A privately funded observatory Astronomers and main office in Goleta (Santa Barbara,) CA Engineering/ops offices in Goleta & Birkenhead, UK Associated with University of California at Santa Barbara Build telescope observatory facilities to enable the science We will make them available to the extended astronomical community 30+ FTE engineering and operations staff Do original science Encourage collaborations Collaborate with others to study time-varying astronomical phenomena. LCOGT is member of Pan- Starrs Consortium (with Harvard-CFA), LSST, Palomar Transient Factory Science Staff Dr. Tim Brown is Scientific Director Dr. Andrew Pickles is Assistant Technical Director LCOGT has eight post-doctoral fellows LCOGT has five astronomy PhD’s in Engineering, 17 PhD’s total. About LCOGT

4. Main Science Foci Extra-solar Planets, 20 found by LCOGT astronomers Extragalactic transients Stellar oscillations, variable stars

5. Existing and Planned Observatories • 2 x 2m telescopes (Hawaii & Australia) • These are our existing “Faulkes” telescopes • They are undergoing extensive upgrades and improvements • They will be used for science and advanced education • 24 x 0.4m telescopes, in clusters of 2 or 4 • These will form the educational network although a portion of their time will also be allocated to research, extinction, standards • They will usually be co-located in the 1.0m observatories • 15 x 1m telescopes, in clusters of 2 or 3 • These will form the research network. • Telescopes in a cluster will be independently mounted and controlled, and may point at different targets. • 1x0.8m Sedgwick Observatory in Santa Ynez

6. Rapid response: ToO mode “normal” Scheduled event monitoring Moving (astronomical) objects Periodic sampling Long-term & continuous monitoring Global and homogeneous photometric system: identical filters, CCDs, calibration and reduction methodology Medium resolution (R30,000) common spectrograph fed by each 1m telescope cluster Observation Capabilities

7. Our Proposed Network

8. Typical Observatory Cluster • Typical 3 enclosure cluster • Three 1m and four 0.4m telescope • 10’x 30’ Services Bldg • Auxiliary Equip: Generator, chiller • Roll-off roof and dome enclosures being considered Equipment Bldg Auxiliary Equipment

9. Typical Roll-off Enclosures

10. LCOGT Telescope Inventory 1m Telescope 2m Telescopes 0.4m Telescope

11. 2m Telescopes • Two telescopes designed by TTL • Acquired by LCOGT in 2005 • Continuous improvement program • Improve reliability • Improve science output • Program complete winter 2008 • Both operational • Significant educational component • Other TTL: Li Jang, Pune, La Palma • Operate in open air, 30Kmph wind

12. Faulkes Telescope South (FTS): Siding Spring, NSW

13. Faulkes Telescope North (FTN): Haleakala, HI

14. 0.4m Telescope • RELIABILITY + PERFORMANCE • Direct drive / friction rollers • Easy alignment • New bearing materials and specs • Sealed friction drive surfaces • High resolution (30mas) on-axis encoders

15. First prototype working at SBA - Validated concept and verified image quality (3rd night image below) 2 pilot telescopes in test as pre-manufacture verification -Santa Barbara CA, and Liverpool UK offices Two 0.4M telescopes to be installed in each of FTS & FTN Primary early function is network software development but will do science and education observing as 2nd priority 0.4m Telescope Status

16. 1m Telescope • Basic design concept: • C-ring mount with fast response: 10deg/s • Light weight optics, thermally responsive • Stiff, light-weight assembly, carbon truss • Excellent imager • Simple, reliable, relatively inexpensive • Currently in design phase • Mirror blanks in production • Prototype testing begins Q2 2009 • 1st telescope deployed late 2009 to Chile

17. Fairchild 4K x 4K 486 CCD 4096x4096 15um back illuminated High QE, Class 1 detectors, bulk order LCO developed (in house) controller 4e RON in 40s, 12e in 4s (4 channels) Closed-cycle cooling 62mm square, Broadband u-Zs, Y? Fast readout, multiple sub-frame region capability 2.0M: 10’x10’ FoV, 0.30” pixels (binned 2x2) (Spectral Instruments version) We may develop a 2x2 mosaic camera 1.0M: 26’x26’ FoV, 0.39” pixels ugriZsY, UBVRcIc, Narrow band filters 0.4M: 29’x20’ FoV, 0.57” pixels SBIG KAF-6303E, 3072 x 2048 for first units Probably e2v BE CCD for full deployment LCOGT Cameras

18. Homogeneous and trustworthy photometry, coupled with long-term coverage is our primary goal Central cluster based scheduler will manage a global telescope (We are not trying to solve the problem of scheduling between autonomous distributed robots.) Traditional TAC procedures will allocate at top level The most important science always wins. Because we are private we do not need to be fair (Exception: host commitments) Local flash reduction cluster enables complex Python scripted observation agents LCOGT Software & Network

19. LCOGT will comply and be an HTN compatible ‘telescope’ Education will not be a different system – just a subset of professional astronomer capability Standard observation types will be automatically reduced to minimize image transport issues. 100% open source except for TPSOFT code, including mechanical and electronic design We expect to re-write the scheduler many times! LCOGT Software & Network -II

20. 2m improvement completed by Q1 2009 and doing good science reliably Six 0.4m telescopes to be deployed as prototype network by Q1 2009 Prototype 1m telescope operational by Q2 2009 1st 1m network telescope deployed by Q4 2009 to CTIO Goal is to have agreements for key additional sites in place by end of 2008 -- CTIO, SAAO, La Palma Current Schedule

21. Our plan is to keep astronomy in the dark. Clear skies! In Summary