A robotic telescope leveraging global science from Veloce

该项目旨在实施RAPTOR，这是一种专用的机器人望远镜，可以使用最先进的Veloce摄谱仪。该项目将利用澳大利亚对Veloce设施的现有投资的巨大价值，允许Veloce在每年的290个夜晚使用英澳望远镜，而其他仪器正在使用该望远镜。Veloce+RAPTOR将实现一种新的变革性科学，这种科学需要在许多夜晚进行高节奏的重复观测。预期成果包括对附近恒星周围系外行星的性质进行广泛采样，这对行星形成理论的形成至关重要，以及解决需要明亮恒星高分辨率光谱学的广泛天文学问题的新数据。结合价值3亿美元的凌日系外行星勘测卫星（TESS）使命的数据，并利用对Veloce仪器的现有590万美元投资，RAPTOR望远镜将使澳大利亚处于全球追求宇宙中生命常见程度问题的最前沿。

This project aims to Implement RAPTOR, a dedicated, robotic telescope allowing the use of state-of-the-art Veloce spectrograph. This project will leverage substantial value from Australia’s existing investment in the Veloce facility by allowing Veloce’s use on the 290 nights per year when the Anglo-Australian Telescope is being used by other instruments. Veloce+RAPTOR will enable a new class of transformative science that demands high-cadence, repeated observations over many nights. Expected outcomes include a broad sampling of the properties of exoplanets around nearby stars, critical for informing theories of planet formation, as well as new data addressing a wide range of astronomical questions requiring high-resolution optical spectroscopy of bright stars. Combined with data from the $300m Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, and leveraging the existing $5.9m investment in the Veloce instrument, the RAPTOR telescope will place Australia at the forefront of the global pursuit of the question of how common life is in the Universe.