Remote Control Astronomy

Photo courtesy of the Faulkes Telescope Project and Nik Szymanek The network of LCOGT telescopes: this map shows existing and proposed telescopes in the network.

It is hoped that at least one new large telescope will go on-line each year, with the intermediate and small telescopes becoming established over the next few years. The ultimate aim is to provide two longitudinally-distributed rings of telescopes; one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. This distributed network will allow single objects to be followed over time, and will help to ensure that one-off astronomical events do not go unobserved. The LCOGT network will be a unique research facility: the two original Faulkes telescopes in Hawaii and Australia will provide the starting points for the rings, and these telescopes will be joined by new instruments in South Africa, Mexico and Chile, as well as additional smaller telescopes at both the original sites.

Active learning

One of the criticisms of school science is that it is boring, repetitive and does not convey any of the excitement of discovery. It is hoped that through access to research-grade instruments, located at professional observatory sites around the world, school students can participate in real science, working alongside astronomers. Both the Faulkes Telescope Project and Las Cumbres Observatory aim to engage school students in research, and as such have taken on a major challenge. Currently over 400 UK schools are registered with the Faulkes Telescope Project, in addition to those local at the sites in Australia and Hawaii. Since joining the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, access to the Faulkes telescopes for UK schools has become free of charge, and it is hoped that demand for telescope time will rise even further.

The educational arm of the Faulkes Telescope Project is beginning to reach beyond the UK. Since September 2005, a programme to monitor supernova explosions has been piloted by Polish schools, working through the British Council. When a massive star explodes at the end of its life, the glow from the explosion can be viewed across vast distances. School students have been involved in measuring the changes in the brightness of the supernova as it gradually fades over the following months, and this information can help astronomers better understand the processes that govern the end of these giant stars. Another large international project funded by the British Council will involve schools and astronomers from five different regions in Russia and is set to launch in late September 2006.

The planned LCOGT network has two areas of great strength. Firstly, the network itself will be able to operate as a single research instrument, to become more than the sum of its parts. It will offer unrivalled opportunities for comprehensive investigations, to track phenomena across the sky by 'hopping' from telescope to telescope. Complementing this functionality, there is also significant potential for collaborative working, and for partnerships between different organisations, across the world, from schoolchildren to professional astronomers. The benefits of these telescopes will be felt not only by the current generation of astronomers, but also by the next, and may just inspire some students along the way.

For more information:

Faulkes Telescope
http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/

The Bradford Robotic Telescope
http://www.telescope.org/