Autonomous Observing and Control Systems for PAIRITEL, a 1.3m Infrared Imaging Telescope

J. S. Bloom; Dan L. Starr; Cullen H. Blake; M. F. Skrutskie; Emilio E. Falco

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arXiv · astro-ph/0511842

Autonomous Observing and Control Systems for PAIRITEL, a 1.3m Infrared Imaging Telescope

J. S. Bloom·Dan L. Starr·Cullen H. Blake·M. F. Skrutskie·Emilio E. Falco

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Abstract

The Peters Automated Infrared Imaging Telescope (PAIRITEL) is the first meter-class telescope operating as a fully robotic IR imaging system. Dedicated in October 2004, PAIRITEL began regular observations in mid-December 2004 as part of a 1.5 year commissioning period. The system was designed to respond without human intervention to new gamma-ray burst transients: this milestone was finally reached on November 9, 2005 but the telescope had a number of semi-automated sub-10 minute responses throughout early commissioning. When not operating in Target of Opportunity mode, PAIRITEL performs a number of queue scheduled transient monitoring campaigns. To achieve this level of automation, we have developed communicating tools to connect the various sub-systems: an intelligent queue scheduling database, run-time configurable observation sequence software, a data reduction pipeline, and a master state machine which monitors and controls all functions within and affecting the observatory.

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J. S. Bloom, Dan L. Starr, Cullen H. Blake, M. F. Skrutskie, Emilio E. Falco. 2005-11-30. Autonomous Observing and Control Systems for PAIRITEL, a 1.3m Infrared Imaging Telescope. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511842

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