Development of KHU Automatic Observing Software for McDonald 30inch telescope (KAOS30)

Automatic observing is the most efficient system for sky surveys that image many targets over large areas of the sky. Such a system requires the integrating control software that systematically manages astronomical instruments that are not connected to each other. In February of 2017, we installed a wide-field 10 inch telescope for Supernovae survey on the McDonald 30 inch telescope as a piggyback system. However, during the observations, information such as target coordinates could not be exchanged with the telescope mount. The reason is the program that controls the telescope control system (TCS) and the program that controls the imager operate on independent PCs. KAOS30 is an integrated observing software developed to improve this environment. The software is composed of four packages that are the Telescope Control Package (TCP), the Data Acquisition Package (DAP), the Auto Focus Package (AFP), and the Script Mode Package (SMP). The TCP communicates to the TCS and also communicates weather information. SMP supports automatic observing in a script mode, which improves the efficiency of the survey. KAOS30 was developed based on Visual C ++ and runs on the Windows operating system. It also supports the ASCOM driver platform for various manufacturers. The instruments that support ASCOM can be installed without modification of the program code. KAOS30 can be applied as software for many different telescopes in future projects.