Science operations for LCOGT - a global telescope network

Abstract

The Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network comprises nine 1-meter and two 2-meter telescopes, all robotic and dynamically scheduled, at five sites spanning the globe. Instrumentation includes optical imagers and low-dispersion spectrographs. A suite of high-dispersion, high-stability spectrographs is being developed for deployment starting late this year. The network has been designed and built to allow regular monitoring of time-variable or moving objects with any cadence, as well as rapid response to external alerts. Our intent is to operate it in a totally integrated way, both in terms of scheduling and in terms of data quality. The unique attributes of the LCOGT network make it different enough from any existing facility that alternative approaches to optimize science productivity can be considered. The LCOGT network V1.0 began full science operations this year. It is being used in novel ways to undertake investigations related to supernovae, microlensing events, solar system objects, and exoplanets. The network’s user base includes a number of partners, who are providing resources to the collaboration. A key project program brings together many of these partners to carry out large projects. In the long term, our vision is to operate the network as a part of a time-domain system, in which pre-planned monitoring observations are interspersed with autonomously detected and classified events from wide-area surveys.