Conducting the SONG: The robotic nature and efficiency of a fully automated telescope. (arXiv:1901.07560v1 [astro-ph.IM])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Andersen_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. Fredslund Andersen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Handberg_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. Handberg</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Weiss_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Weiss</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Frandsen_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Frandsen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Simon_Diaz_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Simón-Díaz</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Grundahl_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. Grundahl</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Palle_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Pallé</a>
We present a description of “the Conductor”, an automated software package
which handles all observations at the first Stellar Observations Network Group
(SONG) node telescope at the Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife. The
idea was to provide a complete description on the automated procedures for
target selection and execution of observations and to demonstrate how the SONG
robotic telescope is being operated. The Conductor is a software package
developed in Python and running on a server in Aarhus which makes use of a
large set of database tables through which it communicates with the SONG nodes.
Based on a number of selection criteria the Conductor is able to identify the
optimum target to be observed at any given moment taking into account local
weather conditions and technical constraints. The Conductor has made it
possible for the Hertzsprung SONG telescope to become a highly sophisticated
and efficient robotic telescopic facility without human interaction. It can
handle everything from Principal Investigators submitting their proposed
targets with specific settings to the data being available for download after
the observations has been carried out. At present, and thanks to the
availability of the Conductor, the first node of the SONG project can be
considered a world leading robotic telescope with respect to needed human
interactions, efficiency and flexibility in observing strategy.
We present a description of “the Conductor”, an automated software package
which handles all observations at the first Stellar Observations Network Group
(SONG) node telescope at the Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife. The
idea was to provide a complete description on the automated procedures for
target selection and execution of observations and to demonstrate how the SONG
robotic telescope is being operated. The Conductor is a software package
developed in Python and running on a server in Aarhus which makes use of a
large set of database tables through which it communicates with the SONG nodes.
Based on a number of selection criteria the Conductor is able to identify the
optimum target to be observed at any given moment taking into account local
weather conditions and technical constraints. The Conductor has made it
possible for the Hertzsprung SONG telescope to become a highly sophisticated
and efficient robotic telescopic facility without human interaction. It can
handle everything from Principal Investigators submitting their proposed
targets with specific settings to the data being available for download after
the observations has been carried out. At present, and thanks to the
availability of the Conductor, the first node of the SONG project can be
considered a world leading robotic telescope with respect to needed human
interactions, efficiency and flexibility in observing strategy.
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