Mark Trueblood

About

Mark Trueblood is a key figure in the development of low-cost, robotic telescopes for exoplanet discovery and follow-up. His work centers on designing and building automated survey systems that make precision astronomy accessible. Trueblood’s most impactful contribution is the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project, a small-aperture, wide-field robotic survey that scans bright stars for planetary transits. The foundational 2013 paper on KELT has garnered nearly 200 citations, underscoring its influence on large-area synoptic surveys. He further advanced the field with the DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits (DEMONEX), a low-cost, 0.5-meter robotic telescope that provides homogeneous photometric data for transiting planets. Expanding on this, Trueblood co-developed DEMONEXT, a 20-inch automated telescope for exoplanetary transit follow-up and transient events. By demonstrating that commercially-available parts can be assembled into powerful research instruments, Trueblood has lowered the barrier to entry for exoplanet science, enabling more institutions to participate in the hunt for worlds beyond our solar system.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT): A Small Robotic Telescope for Large-Area Synoptic Surveys

   197 citations · 2013
2. 2
   DEMONEX: the DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits

   22 citations · 2010
3. 3
   DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits and Transients (DEMONEXT): a low-cost robotic and automated telescope for followup of exoplanetary transits and other transient events

   8 citations · 2016

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links