Two Suns in the sky: the TEST telescope on the quest for planets around binary stars

陶滕堡系外行星搜索望远镜是一台机器人30厘米施密特望远镜，用于寻找太阳系外行星。它监测预先选择的天区，以探测太阳系外行星。作为一个机器人望远镜，它在矮人网络中的参与是必不可少的。这个网络由20个主要是欧洲的望远镜组成，寻找特定类别的双星周围的行星，即所谓的食双星。这些双星以某种方式相互旋转，使得一颗恒星凌日在另一颗恒星的前面，从而遮住了它的光线。这导致了系统总亮度的显著和严格的周期性变暗，即所谓的日食。因此，人们可以通过监测亮度来得出系统的双星性质，即使这两个分量由于距离太远而无法分辨。如果一颗行星在围绕双星运行的轨道上，严格来说，行星和双星都绕着共同的质心运行。因此，双星的距离周期性地变化，因此双星的光行进时间也是周期性变化的。这导致了准确的日食时间的可测量的变化，并且可以更精确地测量双星，双星越亮，望远镜越大。测试望远镜将被优化，以观测这样的日食双星。数十个双星的观测计划将被自动组织起来，以便有效地观测到许多恒星的许多日食。为了提高矮星网络的成功，需要识别和监测最好的双星目标。作为Dwarf网络中最小的望远镜之一，该测试非常适合从数百个候选者中寻找最有希望的目标，而更大的望远镜则用于雄心勃勃地监测最佳候选者的日食时间。此外，这项测试将通过测量选定明亮天体的日食时间，为矮星运动做出贡献。最后，该项目将提供资源来分析Dwarf项目收集的大量日食时间测量数据。该项目确保在未来几年内运行和开发先进的望远镜，同时为雄心勃勃的开创性科学做出贡献。自动化观测的发展将推动对双星周围行星的搜索。

The Tautenburg Exoplanet Search Telescope is a robotic 30cm Schmidt telescope to find extra-solar planets. It monitors celestial fields selected beforehand to detect extrasolar planets. Being a robotic telescope, its participation in the Dwarf network is essential. This network consists of 20 mostly European telescopes and looks for planets around a particular class of binary stars, the so-called eclipsing binaries.These binaries revolve around each other in a way so that one star transits in front of the other and thus shades its light. This results in a substantial and strictly periodical dimming of the total brightness of the system, the so-called eclipses. Therefore, one can conclude on the binary nature of the system by monitoring the brightness, even though the two components cannot be resolved due to the large distance.If a planet is in an orbit around this binary, both the planet and the binary move around a common centre of mass, strictly speaking. Therefore, the distance of the binary varies periodically and thus the light travel time of the binary, too. This results in a measurable variation of the exact eclipse times and can be measured more precisely the brighter the binary and the larger the telescope.The TEST telescope will be optimised for the observation of such eclipsing binaries. The observing schedule for tens of binaries will be organised automatically in a way so that many eclipses of many stars are observed efficiently.In order to increase the success of the Dwarf network, the best binary targets need to be identified and monitored. Being one of the smallest telescopes in the Dwarf network, the TEST is perfectly suited to find the most promising targets among hundreds of candidates while the larger telescope are used for the ambitious monitoring of the eclipse times of the best candidates. Moreover, the TEST will contribute to the Dwarf campaign by measuring eclipse times for selected bright objects. Finally, the project will provide resources to analyse the large amount of eclipse time measurements collected by the Dwarf project.The project ensures the operation and development of an advanced telescope over the next years and at the same time contributes to ambitious and seminal science. The development of automated observations will advance the search for planets around binary stars.