LCOGT Network Observatory Operations

We describe the operational capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. We summarize our hardware and software for maintaining and monitoring network health. We focus on methodologies to utilize the automated system to monitor availability of sites, instruments and telescop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Pickles, Andrew, Hjelstrom, Annie, Boroson, Todd, Burleson, Ben, Conway, Patrick, de Vera, Jon, Elphick, Mark, Haworth, Brian, Rosing, Wayne, Saunders, Eric, Thomas, Doug, White, Gary, Willis, Mark, Walker, Zach
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 11.07.2014
Subjects
Apertures
Astronomical instruments
Automatic control
Observatories
Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Recovery
Telemetry
Telescopes
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Summary:We describe the operational capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. We summarize our hardware and software for maintaining and monitoring network health. We focus on methodologies to utilize the automated system to monitor availability of sites, instruments and telescopes, to monitor performance, permit automatic recovery, and provide automatic error reporting. The same jTCS control system is used on telescopes of apertures 0.4m, 0.8m, 1m and 2m, and for multiple instruments on each. We describe our network operational model, including workloads, and illustrate our current tools, and operational performance indicators, including telemetry and metrics reporting from on-site reductions. The system was conceived and designed to establish effective, reliable autonomous operations, with automatic monitoring and recovery - minimizing human intervention while maintaining quality. We illustrate how far we have been able to achieve that.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1407.3284