A Reliable, Robust, Robotic One Meter Telescope for Research and Graduate/Undergraduate Student Training

用于研究和研究生/本科生培训的可靠、坚固的一米机器人望远镜

• 批准号: 0519398
• 负责人: Thomas Harrison
• 金额: $ 70.27万
• 依托单位: New Mexico State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-01 至 2012-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0519398&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Reliable; Robust; Robotic; Meter; Telescope

Proposal: 0519398 Principal Investigator: Thomas Harrison Title: A Reliable, Robust, Robotic One-Meter Telescope for Research and Graduate/Undergraduate Student Training ABSTRACT: New Mexico State University owns and operates a one-meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory (APO) in southern New Mexico. This telescope is fully robotic and scientifically active, monitoring the light curves of cataclysmic variables, brown dwarfs, and supernovae discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The telescope is in need of refurbishment. As a result, its operation will be made more reliable and new instrumentation and capabilities will be made available. Work packages that will be undertaken will: (1) Improve the usage to greater than 90% of all clear nights, through increased manpower (including the use of a graduate student to share primary responsibility for operations), improvements to some critical under-engineered subsystems, and the purchase of basic spare parts. (2) Integrate a new, existing, 2048x2048 CCD (built in collaboration with Los Alamos National Labs) into the telescope to allow wider-field operation with a detector with sufficiently low dark current to allow for narrow-band imaging, and to replace our current tiny guide camera with a new CCD camera. (3) Improve performance via improvements in optical alignment and improved guiding software. (4) Improve optical performance and allow for simultaneously mounting a second instrument by constructing a new rotating tertiary with actuated control of rotation, translation, tip, and tilt. (5) Construct a high-speed photometer for the second Nasmyth port to allow high time-resolution photometry simultaneously in five colors. The renovated telescope will be used for a number of research projects, including programs in narrow-band imaging, rapid-response follow-up to high energy transits (including those from SWIFT), monitoring of known extrasolar planet systems for transits, searches for periodic and quasi-periodic variability in interacting binaries, pulsating white dwarfs, and the optical counterparts of high-energy transients, etc. Up to 20% of the telescope time available to the community through queue scheduled observations, including the possibility of target-of-opportunity observations, through an internally review program. Additional time will be made available for external scientists who propose projects in collaboration with NMSU personnel. The renovation efforts will provide graduate and undergraduate students with both engineering and research opportunities, including instrument design and deployment, as well as software development. Use of the telescope will be more reliably integrated into existing astronomy classes and the 1-m will be incorporated into an on-campus program aimed at under-represented middle and high school students in science. This award is funded by the Division of Astronomical Sciences and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities.

提案：0519398首席研究员：托马斯·哈里森（Thomas Harrison）标题：可靠的，健壮的机器人，机器人的一米望远镜研究和研究生/本科生培训摘要：新墨西哥州新墨西哥州的新墨西哥州大学的新墨西哥州立大学拥有并经营一米在新墨西哥州南部Apache Pointervoration（APO）的单米望远镜。该望远镜是完全机器人和科学活跃的，监测了斯隆数字天空调查发现的灾难变量，棕色矮人和超新星的光曲线。望远镜需要翻新。结果，它的操作将变得更加可靠，并将提供新的仪器和功能。将要进行的工作套餐将：（1）通过增加人力（包括使用研究生来分担运营的主要责任），改进一些关键的工程不足的子系统以及购买基本备件的改善，将用法提高到所有晴朗夜晚的90％以上。 （2）将一个新的，现有的，2048x2048 CCD（与Los Alamos National Labs合作建造）纳入望远镜中，以允许具有足够低的深色电流的检测器更宽的场操作，以允许窄带成像，并使用新的CCD摄像头替换我们当前的微型导摄像头。 （3）通过改进光学对齐和改进的指南软件来提高性能。 （4）提高光学性能，并通过构造旋转，翻译，尖端和倾斜的旋转控制的新旋转第三纪，同时安装第二个仪器。 （5）为第二个纳斯端端口构造高速光度计，以同时允许五种颜色同时分辨时间分辨率。装修后的望远镜将用于许多研究项目，包括狭窄成像的程序，高能量过渡的快速响应随访（包括来自Swift的那些），监视已知的过渡外行星系统，搜索周期性和Quasi-periodic变异性，并在相互作用的二线体和Quiptal up-plos flos up Quipter-upter-uper-uper-ipter-uper-iqual-forsy fors forsy forsy等。望远镜通过队列预定的观测值可供社区提供时间，包括通过内部审查计划进行目标观察的可能性。 将为与NMSU人员合作提议项目的外部科学家提供额外的时间。翻新工作将为研究生和本科生提供工程和研究机会，包括仪器设计和部署以及软件开发。望远镜的使用将更可靠地整合到现有的天文学类别中，1-M将纳入旨在不足代表的科学中学生和高中生的校园课程中。该奖项由天文学科学和多学科活动办公室资助。