Poster abstract details
Optimising Robotic Telescope Network for monitoring Transient Phenomena
Abstract
Project TARA is an experimental network of small sized (6 - 16”) robotic telescopes working at optical wavelengths with the ultimate objective of operating as a cost-effective linked system capable of monitoring variable objects over periods of days. A novel automated data reduction pipeline, LuckyPhot, has been developed at BCO to generate precision photometry by significantly reducing turbulent atmospheric effects. The telescope backend, a Two Channel Optical Photometric Imaging Camera, also developed at BCO has already been used to obtain data on the 2.2m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory.
This work aims at automating and optimising the entire data acquisition and reduction process to ultimately detect and characterise QSO short-timescale variability and hence understand more about the intrinsic processes driving it. Since the phenomenon is stochastic in nature, and since different models of variability predict different behaviours in terms of an objects differential colours, there is a need for continuous pseudo-realtime QSO monitoring to maximise the probability of detecting and tracking transient variability. QSOs which are in an active flaring state are the most interesting to follow up. In project TARA we are examining different operational methodologies wherein each node communicates with each other node(s) and reports its health and status to a central database at BCO which streamlines observation strategies and parameters based on several factors including local observing conditions.
This work aims at automating and optimising the entire data acquisition and reduction process to ultimately detect and characterise QSO short-timescale variability and hence understand more about the intrinsic processes driving it. Since the phenomenon is stochastic in nature, and since different models of variability predict different behaviours in terms of an objects differential colours, there is a need for continuous pseudo-realtime QSO monitoring to maximise the probability of detecting and tracking transient variability. QSOs which are in an active flaring state are the most interesting to follow up. In project TARA we are examining different operational methodologies wherein each node communicates with each other node(s) and reports its health and status to a central database at BCO which streamlines observation strategies and parameters based on several factors including local observing conditions.