The STELLA Robotic Observatory on Tenerife

Abstract

The Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) inaugurated the robotic telescopes STELLA‐I and STELLA‐II (STELLar Activity) on Tenerife on May 18, 2006. The observatory is located on the Izaña ridge at an elevation of 2400 m near the German Vacuum Tower Telescope. STELLA consists of two 1.2 m alt‐az telescopes. One telescope fiber feeds a bench‐mounted high‐resolution echelle spectrograph while the other telescope feeds a wide‐field imaging photometer. Both scopes work autonomously by means of artificial intelligence. Not only that the telescopes are automated, but the entire observatory operates like a robot, and does not require any human presence on site.