• 천문학논총
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.683-685
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• 2015

A group of universities have come together with the aim of designing and developing Small Aperture Robotic Telescopes (SmART) for use by students to observe variable stars and transient follow-ups. The group is deliberating on the components of the robotic system; e.g. the telescope, the mount, the back-end camera, control software, and their integration keeping in mind the scientific objectives. The prototype might then be replicated by all the participating universities to provide round the clock observations from sites spread evenly in longitude across the globe. Progress made so far is reported in this paper.

• 천문학회보
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.61.1-61.1
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• 2021

OWL-Net (Optical Wide-field patroL Network) is the first space situational awareness facility of its kind in South Korea which consists of five identical 0.5 m wide-field telescopes with 4K by 4K CCDs. The five stations are located in Mongolia, Morocco, Israel, United States, and South Korea. They are being operated in fully autonomous mode with the minimum human intervention. The primary objective of OWL-Net is to track Korean domestic satellites. In addition, it can be possible to conduct time-series photometry of bright solar system objects. We will present the system overview of the OWL-Net telescopes and progress report.

• 천문학회지
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.89-102
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• 2021

Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4-1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientific scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.57.2-57.2
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• 2017

Remote and robotic telescopes are the most effective instrument for astronomical survey projects. The system is based on the dynamic operation of all astronomical instruments such as dome and telescope control system (TCS), focuser, filter wheel and data taking camera. We adopt the ASCOM driver platform to control the instruments through the integrated software. It can convert different interface libraries from various manufacturers into a uniform standard library. This allows us to effectively control astronomical instruments without modifying codes. We suggest a conceptual design of software for automation of a small telescope such as the new wide-field 0.25m telescope at McDonald Observatory. It can also be applied to operation of multi-telescopes in future projects.

• 천문학회지
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.111-121
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• 2022

Based on the light an exoplanet blocks from its host star as it passes in front of it during a transit, the mid-transit time can be determined. Periodic variations in mid-transit times can indicate another planet's gravitational influence. We investigate 83 transits of TrES-1 b as observed from 6-inch telescopes in the MicroObservatory robotic telescope network. The EXOTIC data reduction pipeline is used to process these transits, fit transit models to light curves, and calculate transit midpoints. This paper details the methodology for analyzing transit timing variations (TTVs) and using transit measurements to maintain ephemerides. The application of Lomb-Scargle period analysis for studying the plausibility of TTVs is explained. The analysis of the resultant TTVs from 46 transits from MicroObservatory and 47 transits from archival data in the Exoplanet Transit Database indicated the possible existence of other planets affecting the orbit of TrES-1 and improved the precision of the ephemeris by one order of magnitude. We now estimate the ephemeris to be (2 455 489.66026 BJD_TDB ± 0.00044 d) + (3.0300689 ± 0.0000007) d × epoch. This analysis also demonstrates the role of small telescopes in making precise midtransit time measurements, which can be used to help maintain ephemerides and perform TTV analysis. The maintenance of ephemerides allows for an increased ability to optimize telescope time on large ground-based telescopes and space telescope missions.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.207-212
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• 2015

We introduce the Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT), a remotely operated, robotic 0.43-meter telescope. The telescope was installed at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, in 2014 October, to secure regular and exclusive access to the dark sky and excellent atmospheric conditions in the southern hemisphere from the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Here, we describe the LSGT system and its performance, present example images from early observations, and discuss a future plan to upgrade the system. The use of the telescope includes (i) long-term monitoring observations of nearby galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae; (ii) rapid follow-up observations of transients such as gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources; and (iii) observations for educational activities at SNU. Based on observations performed so far, we find that the telescope is capable of providing images to a depth of R = 21:5 mag (point source detection) at 5-σ with 15 min total integration time under good observing conditions.