Continued Development and Growth of the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network

该合同将为Skynet提供持续的支持，Skynet是一个基于网络的软件套件，用于同时控制许多远程望远镜。 作为这一努力的一部分，北卡罗来纳州大学的研究小组将继续扩大其网络，使之超出原来的PROMPT望远镜，即位于智利托洛洛山美洲天文台的六台全自动望远镜阵列，成为一个在几个大陆上拥有望远镜的更大系统。 该网络将用于支持伽马射线爆发和其他瞬态和时变现象的观测。 预计该项目将对时域天文学产生重大影响。 该项目的领导人还设想向成千上万的公民科学家和普通公众推广。

This award will provide continued support of Skynet, a web-based software suite for controlling many remote telescopes simultaneously. As part of this effort, the group at the University of North Carolina will continue to expand their network beyond the original PROMPT telescopes, an array of six fully automated telescopes located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, into a larger system with telescopes on several continents. This network will be used to support observations of gamma-ray bursts and other transient and time-variable phenomena. The project is expected to have a significant impact on time domain astronomy. The leaders of this project also envision outreach to tens of thousands of citizen scientists and members of the general public.