Liverpool Telescope 2: a new robotic facility for time domain astronomy in 2020+
Liverpool Telescope 2: a new robotic facility for time domain astronomy in 2020+
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利物浦望远镜 2：2020 年用于时域天文学的新型机器人设施
DOI：
10.1117/12.2055527
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
K. Thomson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
C. Copperwheat;I. Steele;S. Bates;Robert J. Smith;M. Bode;I. Baker;T. Peacocke;K. Thomson
机器人2米利物浦望远镜，位于加那利群岛的拉帕尔马，有一个多样化的仪器套件和强大的跟踪记录，在时域科学，重点包括早期的测光和光谱的超新星，测量的伽玛射线爆发余辉的偏振，和高节奏的光变曲线的凌日系外行星。在接下来的十年里，时域将成为天文学议程中日益突出的一部分，新的设施，如LSST，SKA，CTA和盖亚，并承诺探测天体物理引力波和中微子源，为瞬态宇宙打开新的窗口。为了利用这个令人兴奋的新时代，我们打算建造利物浦望远镜2：一个新的机器人设施，致力于时间域科学。下一代测量设施将发现大量新的瞬变源，但迫切需要进行后续观测，特别是光谱后续观测，以供科学利用。利物浦2号望远镜将有一个4米的孔径，能够对微弱的物体进行光学/红外光谱分析。机器人望远镜能够对不可预测的现象做出快速反应，并对伽马射线爆发余辉等快速衰减的瞬变现象做出快速反应。这种快速的反应使观测成为可能，这在更大口径的不太灵活的望远镜上是不可能的。我们打算让利物浦2号望远镜拥有世界领先的响应时间，目标是我们将在收到地面或天基瞬态探测设施的触发信号后几十秒内获取数据。我们在这里概述了我们的科学目标，并提出了我们的初步光学设计研究的结果。
The robotic 2m Liverpool Telescope, based on the Canary island of La Palma, has a diverse instrument suite and a strong track record in time domain science, with highlights including early time photometry and spectra of supernovae, measurements of the polarization of gamma-ray burst afterglows, and high cadence light curves of transiting extrasolar planets. In the next decade the time domain will become an increasingly prominent part of the astronomical agenda with new facilities such as LSST, SKA, CTA and Gaia, and promised detections of astrophysical gravitational wave and neutrino sources opening new windows on the transient universe. To capitalise on this exciting new era we intend to build Liverpool Telescope 2: a new robotic facility on La Palma dedicated to time domain science. The next generation of survey facilities will discover large numbers of new transient sources, but there will be a pressing need for follow-up observations for scientific exploitation, in particular spectroscopic follow-up. Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture, enabling optical/infrared spectroscopy of faint objects. Robotic telescopes are capable of rapid reaction to unpredictable phenomena, and for fast-fading transients like gamma-ray burst afterglows. This rapid reaction enables observations which would be impossible on less agile telescopes of much larger aperture. We intend Liverpool Telescope 2 to have a world-leading response time, with the aim that we will be taking data with a few tens of seconds of receipt of a trigger from a ground- or space-based transient detection facility. We outline here our scientific goals and present the results of our preliminary optical design studies.