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Main Authors: Moore, John, Gendre, Bruce, Coward, David, Panther, Fiona, Moore, Eloise
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08006
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author Moore, John
Gendre, Bruce
Coward, David
Panther, Fiona
Moore, Eloise
author_facet Moore, John
Gendre, Bruce
Coward, David
Panther, Fiona
Moore, Eloise
contents The Zadko Observatory located approximately 70 kilometres north of Perth in the Yeal nature reserve within the Shire of Gingin, Western Australia, initially housed the 1.0 metre f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope which was commissioned in June 2008. Since the Zadko telescope has been in operation it has proven its worth by detecting numerous Gamma Ray Burst afterglows, two of these being the most distant 'optical transients' imaged by an Australian telescope. The Zadko telescope also contributed to the discovery of colliding neutron stars in 2017 capturing the imagination of the public. Another important use for the Zadko Telescope is the tracking and mapping of Space Debris which consist of all man-made objects, including their fragments or parts, other than active space vehicles larger than 10 microns and orbiting the Earth in outer space. The Zadko telescope forms part of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav). With a view to supporting ongoing scientific instrument upgrades and observatory maintenance it has proven critical to attract additional funding and seek out collaboration with international partners. In this article, we will focus on the administrative and technical details of the Observatory, focusing on the sustainability of the Observatory and its ongoing potential for future growth into an internationally recognized Space Surveillance Hub. We will review the evolution of the Observatory, from its early, single instrument state, to its current multi-telescope and multi-instrument capabilities. We will finish by outlining the future of the Observatory and surrounds.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_08006
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Management of a Multi-User Robotic Observatory
Moore, John
Gendre, Bruce
Coward, David
Panther, Fiona
Moore, Eloise
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The Zadko Observatory located approximately 70 kilometres north of Perth in the Yeal nature reserve within the Shire of Gingin, Western Australia, initially housed the 1.0 metre f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope which was commissioned in June 2008. Since the Zadko telescope has been in operation it has proven its worth by detecting numerous Gamma Ray Burst afterglows, two of these being the most distant 'optical transients' imaged by an Australian telescope. The Zadko telescope also contributed to the discovery of colliding neutron stars in 2017 capturing the imagination of the public. Another important use for the Zadko Telescope is the tracking and mapping of Space Debris which consist of all man-made objects, including their fragments or parts, other than active space vehicles larger than 10 microns and orbiting the Earth in outer space. The Zadko telescope forms part of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav). With a view to supporting ongoing scientific instrument upgrades and observatory maintenance it has proven critical to attract additional funding and seek out collaboration with international partners. In this article, we will focus on the administrative and technical details of the Observatory, focusing on the sustainability of the Observatory and its ongoing potential for future growth into an internationally recognized Space Surveillance Hub. We will review the evolution of the Observatory, from its early, single instrument state, to its current multi-telescope and multi-instrument capabilities. We will finish by outlining the future of the Observatory and surrounds.
title Management of a Multi-User Robotic Observatory
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08006