| Founder(s) | Wayne Rosing |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Location | 6740 Cortona Dr., Goleta, California, USA |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Focus | Astronomy, astrophysics, educational technology, space sciences |
| Employees | 60[1] |
| Motto | We will always keep you in the dark. |
| Website | LCOGT.net |
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT.net) is a non-profit private operating foundation directed by the technologist Wayne Rosing. The network's goal is to build a global network of 50 to 70[1] longitudinally spaced robotic telescopes for scientific and educational use. The longitudinal spacing would provide complete latitude coverage in both hemispheres to allow continuous observations of any astronomical object.
As of March 2010, the network currently comprises two fully operational, science-grade telescopes, the 2m Faulkes Telescopes, North and South.[2] In 2010 work began at Cerro Tololo (Chile) and Sutherland (South Africa). A site on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) is being arranged.
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LCOGT was originally started by Wayne Rosing under the name LCO or Las Cumbres Observatory. The company was later renamed LCOGT partly to avoid confusion with Las Campanas Observatory (which also may be abbreviated as LCO) and partly to emphasis the global nature of Las Cumbres Observatory. In 2005, Rosing founded the global telescope version of LCO. The first astronomers to join were Stuart Taylor in July, 2005, and Tim Brown, in June 2006. In 2005, Rosing and Taylor were joined by engineer Matt Dubberly, a longtime acquaintance of Rosing's from Las Cumbres.
Rosing set up the first offices were on Haley Street in Santa Barbara while evaluating which university to affiliate with. After choosing to affiliate with the University of California at Santa Barbara, the current Cortona street offices were established.
The fully operational parts of the network are Faulkes Telescope North and South. These were purchased from the Dill Faulkes Educational Trust in 2005, at a similar time that Telescope Technologies Limited (the company responsible for designing and building these 2-meter telescopes as well as their sister telescope, Liverpool Telescope) was also taken over by LCOGT.
LCOGT.net's network two 2-meter telescopes underwent improvements and upgrades during 2005-2010. The network will eventually be sited at roughly six locations in a northern and a southern global ring. The network will be deployed in clusters of up to three 1-meter telescopes and up to four 0.4-meter telescopes, at each site. Currently the entire network is planned to contain approximately 27 telescopes. At present the confirmed sites are Haleakala (Maui, USA), Siding Spring (New South Wales, Australia), Cerro Tololo (Chile), Sutherland (South Africa), Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and at the McDonald Observatory, Texas (USA). There are still negotiations on site locations, and the exact sites may change as the network evolves. The first shipments of enclosure components to the Chile and South Africa sites took place in 2010.
Each telescope in the network will operate robotically, without any need for a human presence at site during normal operations. Each site has weather and telemetry sensors which automatically inform the telescope and enclosure whether conditions are suitable for observing.
At present, observations can be made on the 2m telescopes either by remote control, where an observer directly controls the telescope, or by robotic scheduler, where observations are submitted to a queue.
The network of telescopes will operate as a single global telescope, with a standardized and homogeneous photometric system with identical filters, CCDs, calibration and reduction processes. To fulfill the science objectives, the global telescope network will include three classes of telescope: 0.4, 1.0m and 2.0m. There may also be occasional additions to the network which do not fit within these classes. One such addition is the Sedgwick Reserve Observatory in the Santa Ynez Valley, California, which has 0.8m aperture and is a custom design system. It was commissioned in 2010 and is currently being used to test systems, instruments, and perform scientific projects.
The network will consist of 3 main classes of telescope.
At any time, any object of interest should be accessible from 2-4 of the planned site-clusters.
The following list details the requirements the network must fulfill in order to achieve the mission of the project:
The network's research goal, as stated, is "to establish and build a durable scientific institution dedicated to time-domain astrophysics". LCOGT.net will concentrate on time-varying astronomy.
Initially, LCOGT.net started with a strong concentration of astronomers studying extra solar planets. Science Director Timothy Brown was on the team that observed the first transiting extra solar planet, and has been a leader in transiting planet research. LCOGT scientists have since continued to be significant players in obtaining new measurements on newly found transiting planets. LCOGT's first staff astronomer, Stuart Taylor, established LCOGT's still ongoing project on transit timing variations (TTVs). Active global telescope astronomers who have worked at LCOGT include Marton Hidas, Stuart Taylor, Rachel Street, Timothy Lister, and Timothy Brown.
Recently the science program has been expanded to include research into extra-galactic supernovae follow-up. LCOGT network is being used to study nearby supernovae in combination with more distant supernovae discovered by the Supernova Legacy Survey to determine the nature of Dark Energy.
Having a worldwide network of telescopes will mean there will always be a telescope available for time-critical events. The flexibility to measure transits from multiple longitudes are an example of the advantage of having telescopes spaced around the earth, hence exoplanet and supernova research remains a top priority.
LCOGT.net supports software research aiming to make continuous observing as seamless as possible.
The network's educational goal, as stated, is "to use astronomical research to inspire critical thinking and technical understanding in young people and learners of all ages."
LCOGT.net is keen to work in partnership with education organizations across the globe. It has been working closely with Faulkes Telescope Project since 2006, to bring real-time observing into the classrooms of the UK. As the global network grows, and more observing time becomes available, more countries will be provided with access to the high quality instruments to make their own investigations. Accompanying the educational network will be a vast library of resources and projects.
The educational goal of LCOGT.net is to create an awareness for science and technology, and to foster the ability to think critically about the world around us.