1,5-meetrise teleskoobi andmehaldussüsteemi automatiseerimine Tartu Observatooriumis

The aim of this thesis is to automate data management system of Tartu Observatory’s 1.5-meter telescope which deals with metadata production. Currently, almost none of the instruments used for observations are connected to one another and that leads to a great amount of manual work, namely adding information about the instrument configuration into the headers of all collected individual data files. In order to achieve an automated system, a modular approach was used and it was created with the industry standard technologies such as Messaging Queues and ASCOM. Additionally, the system had to be near real-time as it was important to have information of the instruments, though a delay of few seconds was allowed. Besides the new technologies, old tools had to be updated as well, since most of them had not been supported for several years. A custom-made software Astrolab, responsible for providing information and control of the telescope, was written in Python 2 programming language and ran on Ubuntu 10.10. Both of these are obsolete and for the newly developed system components to work properly, the old ones needed to be updated as well. This thesis describes all of the technologies used for the data management system. It provides the reasons behind each tool used as well as how they are implemented. The finished system helps the user observe stars more easily by automating some of the processes

Software architecture for an unattended remotely controlled telescope

We report on the software architecture we developed for the Open University's remotely controlled telescope PIRATE. This facility is based in Mallorca and used in distance learning modules by undergraduate students and by postgraduate students for research projects.Comment: 6 pages, 5 diagrams, Accepted for publication in the Journal of the British Astronomical Associatio

The Development And Implementation Of A Remote Robotic Telescope System At Appalachian State University's Dark Sky Observatory

Robotic telescopes (RTs) are changing the field of observational astronomy. Although, in the past observational astronomy seemed only to be a professional endeavor using large aperture telescopes has now become, thanks to advances in computer technology, a world wide conglomeration of both professional scientists and advanced amateurs. As time has gone on the technologies used to run these telescope systems has become faster, more reliable, and more user friendly. A completely robotic telescope system saves time and money all the while streamlining data acquisitions and pipelining data reduction processes that previously took astronomers hours or days to complete

Design of a portable observatory control system

In this thesis, we synthesize the development of a new concept of operation of small robotic telescopes operated over the Internet. Our design includes a set of improvements in control algorithmic and hardware of several critical points of the list of subsystems necessary to obtain suitable data from a telescope. We can synthesize the principal contributions of this thesis into five independent innovations: - An advanced drive closed-loop control: We designed an innovative hardware and software solution for controlling a telescope position at high precision and high robustness. - A complete Telescope Control System (TCS): We implemented a light and portable software using advanced astronomical algorithms libraries for optimally compute in real-time the telescope positioning. This software also provides a new multiple simultaneous pointing models system using state machines which allows reaching higher pointing precision and longer exposure times with external guiding telescopes. - A distributed software architecture (CoolObs): CoolObs is the implementation of a ZeroC-ICE framework allowing the control, interaction, and communication of all the peripherals present in an astronomical observatory. - A patented system for dynamic collimation of optics: SAPACAN is a mechanical parallel arrangement and its associated software used for active compensation of low-frequency aberration variations in small telescopes. - Collimation estimation algorithms: A sensor-less AO algorithm have been applied by the analysis of images obtained with the field camera. This algorithm can detect effects of lousy collimation. The measured misalignments can later feed corrections to a device like SAPACAN. Due to the constant presence of new technologies in the field of astronomy, it had been one of the first fields to introduce material which was not democratized at this time such as Coupled Charged Devices, internet, adaptive optics, remote and robotic control of devices. However, every time one of these new technologies was included in the field it was necessary to design software protocol according to the epoch’s state of the art software. Then with the democratization of the same devices, years after the definition of their protocols, the same communication rules tend to be used to keep backward compatibility with old - and progressively unused- devices. When using lots of cumulated software knowledge such as with robotic observing, we can dig in several nonsenses in the commonly used architectures due to the previously explained reasons. The described situation is the reason why we will propose as follows a new concept of considering an observatory as an entity and not a separated list of independent peripherals. We will describe the application of this concept in the field or robotic telescopes and implement it in various completely different examples to show its versatility and robustness. First of all, we will give a short introduction of the astronomical concepts which will be used all along the document, in a second part, we will expose a state of the art of the current solutions used in the different subsystems of an observing facility and explain why they fail in being used in small telescopes. The principal section will be dedicated to detail and explain each of the five innovations enumerated previously, and finally, we will present the fabrication and integration of these solutions. We will show here how the joint use of all of them allowed obtaining satisfactory outstanding results in the robotic use of a new prototype and on the adaptation on several existing refurbished telescopes. Finally, we dedicate the last chapter of this thesis to resuming the conclusions of our work.En esta tesis, presentamos el desarrollo de un nuevo concepto de operación de telescopio robótica operados a través de Internet. Nuestro diseño incluye un conjunto de mejoras de los algoritmos de control y hardware de varios puntos críticos de la lista de subsistemas necesarios para obtener datos de calidad científica con un telescopio. Podemos sintetizar las principales contribuciones de esta tesis en cinco innovaciones independientes: - Un control de motor avanzado en bucle cerrado: Diseñamos un hardware y software innovadores para controlar la posición y movimiento fino de un telescopio con alta precisión y alta robustez. - Un software de control de telescopio (TCS) integrado: Implementamos un software ligero y portátil que ocupa bibliotecas de algoritmos astronómicos avanzados para calcular de manera óptima y en tiempo real la posición teórica del telescopio. Este software también proporciona un software innovador de modelo de pointing múltiples simultáneos. Esto permite alcanzar una mayor precisión de seguimiento y así ocupar tiempos de integración más importante ocupando un telescopio de guía mecánicamente apartado al telescopio principal. - Una arquitectura de software distribuido (CoolObs): CoolObs es una implementación de software ocupando la plataforma de desarrollo ZeroC-ICE la cual permite el control, la interacción y la comunicación de todos los periféricos presentes en un observatorio astronómico. - Un sistema patentado para la colimación dinámica de la óptica: SAPACAN es un sistema mecánico de movimiento paralelo y su software asociado. Se puede ocupar para compensar activamente las aberraciones ópticas de bajo orden en pequeños telescopios. - Algoritmos de estimación de colimación: Se desarrolló un algoritmo de óptica adaptiva sin sensor en base al análisis de imágenes obtenidas con una cámara cerca del plano focal del telescopio. Este algoritmo puede detectar efectos de mala colimación de las ópticas. Los desajustes, una vez medidos, pueden posteriormente ser aplicados como correcciones a un dispositivo como SAPACAN. Astronomía es un terreno propicio al desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías y, debido a esto, los protocolos de comunicación entre periféricos pueden ser obsoletos porque se han escritos en etapas tempranas de existencia de estas nuevas tecnologías. Las mejoras se han hecho de a poco para mantener la compatibilidad de los sistemas ya existentes, ocupando un planteamiento general de la problemática de control de telescopios robóticos, proponemos un nuevo concepto de observatorio robótico visto como una entidad y no una lista de periféricos independientes. A lo largo de esta tesis, describiremos la aplicación de este concepto en el campo de telescopios robóticos e implementarlo en varios sistemas independientes y variados para mostrar la versatilidad y robustez de la propuesta.Postprint (published version

Diseño de un sistema de control de bajo costo para un observatorio astronómico

This work shows the engineering process carried out for the design of a low cost control system for an astronomical observatory. The work describes the implementation to adapt the equipment of the observatory to a Master Control System (MCS) and be able to use it remotely. The instruments and software required for the integration of the equipment as part of a robotic observatory are also described.En este artículo se expone el proceso de ingeniería llevado a cabo para el diseño de un sistema de control de bajo costo para un observatorio astronómico. En el artículo se describe la implementación para adaptar el equipo del observatorio a un Sistema de Control Maestro (SCM) y poder utilizarlo a distancia. También se describen los instrumentos y programas informáticos necesarios para la integración del equipo como parte de un observatorio robótico

New Exoplanet Surveys in the Canadian High Arctic at 80 Degrees North

Observations from near the Eureka station on Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian High Arctic at 80 degrees North, benefit from 24-hour darkness combined with dark skies and long cloud-free periods during the winter. Our first astronomical surveys conducted at the site are aimed at transiting exoplanets; compared to mid-latitude sites, the continuous darkness during the Arctic winter greatly improves the survey's detection efficiency for longer-period transiting planets. We detail the design, construction, and testing of the first two instruments: a robotic telescope, and a set of very wide-field imaging cameras. The 0.5m Dunlap Institute Arctic Telescope has a 0.8-square-degree field of view and is designed to search for potentially habitable exoplanets around low-mass stars. The very wide field cameras have several-hundred-square-degree fields of view pointed at Polaris, are designed to search for transiting planets around bright stars, and were tested at the site in February 2012. Finally, we present a conceptual design for the Compound Arctic Telescope Survey (CATS), a multiplexed transient and transit search system which can produce a 10,000-square-degree snapshot image every few minutes throughout the Arctic winter.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, SPIE vol 8444, 201

A telescope control and scheduling system for the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer

The detection of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave signal in August 2017 marked the start of a new era of multi-messenger astrophysics. An unprecedented number of telescopes around the world were involved in hunting for the source of the signal, and although more gravitational-wave signals have been since detected, no further electromagnetic counterparts have been found. In this thesis, I present my work to help build a telescope dedicated to the hunt for these elusive sources: the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO). I detail the creation of the GOTO Telescope Control System, G-TeCS, which includes the software required to control multiple wide-field telescopes on a single robotic mount. G-TeCS also includes software that enables the telescope to complete a sky survey and transient alert follow-up observations completely autonomously, whilst monitoring the weather conditions and automatically fixing any hardware issues that arise. I go on to describe the routines used to determine target priorities, as well as how the all-sky survey grid is defined, how gravitational-wave and other transient alerts are received and processed, and how the optimum follow-up strategies for these events were determined. The first GOTO telescope, situated on La Palma in the Canary Islands, saw first light in June 2017. I detail the work I carried out on the site to help commission the prototype, and how the control software was developed during the commissioning phase. I also analyse the GOTO CCD cameras and optics, building a complete theoretical model of the system to confirm the performance of the prototype. Finally, I describe the results of simulations I carried out predicting the future of the GOTO project, with multiple robotic telescopes on La Palma and in Australia, and how the G-TeCS software might be modified to operate these telescopes as a single, global observatory