Paper 13094-75
SNORT: the Spectroscopic Network Of Robotic Telescopes, a proposed network of low cost 3 meter telescopes
20 June 2024 • 16:50 - 17:10 Japan Standard Time | Room G403/404, North - 4F
Abstract
Time domain astronomy is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. One of the biggest issues with the flood of temporal data is following up on the plethora of discoveries. There just is not enough telescope time available to observe the new objects in detail, especially spectroscopically. Building a new 3 meter class telescope is very expensive, but a telescope that size would be ideal to observe a large fraction of the objects. We propose to create a custom 3 meter telescope, using 1 meter mirrors mounted on the same telescope frame. Each mirror would feed a dedicated fiber optic, and the whole telescope would be designed to be easily replicable and maintainable, as well as have high optical throughput and be fully automated. Once the first "multiple telescope telescope" has been commissioned, multiple copies would be built and stationed around the world, creating a new network of spectroscopic telescopes that can continually monitor the sky. Versions of this technology could be used to build 6 or 8 meter telescopes for far less than a single monolithic mirror.
Presenter
Caltech (United States)
Dr. Riddle graduated with BS degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona, and an MS degree in Physics and a PhD in Astronomy from Georgia State University. He was the Assistant Director of Whole Earth Telescope Operations during his postdoc, and then was part of the Thirty Meter Telescope site testing team where he was responsible for the robotic operation of the sites. He then moved to Caltech as the software lead for Robo-AO, and has since been the software lead for the Zwicky Transient Facility instrument, the Kitt Peak EMCCD Demonstrator and the SEDM-2 instrument, both mounted on the Kitt Peak 2.1m telescope. He was the Project Scientist for Robo-AO when it moved to the Kitt Peak 2.1m. He also probably has had less sleep than everyone in this room in the past year due to his adorable two year old daughter.