Continued Development and Growth of the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network

该奖项将继续支持天网，这是一种基于网络的软件套件，用于同时控制多个远程望远镜。作为这一努力的一部分，北卡罗来纳大学的研究小组将继续扩大他们的网络，超越最初的Prompt望远镜，即位于智利Cerro Tololo美洲天文台的六个全自动望远镜阵列，变成一个更大的系统，在几个大陆上有望远镜。该网络将用于支持对伽马射线暴和其他瞬变和时变现象的观测。该项目预计将对时间域天文学产生重大影响。该项目的领导人还设想与数以万计的公民科学家和普通公众进行接触。

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.