The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education
The new 1m f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 about 70 km north of Perth, Western Australia. It is the only metre-class optical facility at this southern latitude between the east coast of Australia and SouthAfrica, and can rapidly image optical transients at a longitude notmo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
CSIRO
2010
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19291 |
| _version_ | 1848749991273693184 |
|---|---|
| author | Coward, D. Todd, Michael Vaalsta, T. Laas-Bourez, M. Klotz, A. Imerito, A. Yan, L. Luckas, P. Fletcher, A. Zadnik, Marjan Burman, R. Blair, D. Zadko, J. Boer, M. Thierry, P. Howell, E. Gordon, S. Ahmat, A. Moore, J. Frost, K. |
| author_facet | Coward, D. Todd, Michael Vaalsta, T. Laas-Bourez, M. Klotz, A. Imerito, A. Yan, L. Luckas, P. Fletcher, A. Zadnik, Marjan Burman, R. Blair, D. Zadko, J. Boer, M. Thierry, P. Howell, E. Gordon, S. Ahmat, A. Moore, J. Frost, K. |
| author_sort | Coward, D. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The new 1m f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 about 70 km north of Perth, Western Australia. It is the only metre-class optical facility at this southern latitude between the east coast of Australia and SouthAfrica, and can rapidly image optical transients at a longitude notmonitored by other similar facilities.We report on first imaging tests of a pilot programofminor planet searches, and Target of Opportunity observations triggered by the Swift satellite. In 12 months, 6 gamma-ray burst afterglows were detected, with estimated magnitudes; two of them, GRB 090205 (z=4.65) and GRB 090516 (z=4.11), are among the most distant optical transients imaged by an Australian telescope. Many asteroidswere observed in a systematic 3-month search. In September 2009, an automatic telescope control systemwas installed, which will be used to link the facility to a global robotic telescope network; future targets will include fast optical transients triggered by high-energy satellites, radio transient detections, and LIGO gravitational wave candidate events. We also outline the importance of the facility as a potential tool for education, training, and public outreach. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:29:44Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-19291 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:29:44Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | CSIRO |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-192912017-09-13T13:43:08Z The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education Coward, D. Todd, Michael Vaalsta, T. Laas-Bourez, M. Klotz, A. Imerito, A. Yan, L. Luckas, P. Fletcher, A. Zadnik, Marjan Burman, R. Blair, D. Zadko, J. Boer, M. Thierry, P. Howell, E. Gordon, S. Ahmat, A. Moore, J. Frost, K. minor planets instrumentation: miscellaneous asteroids gamma rays: bursts telescopes The new 1m f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 about 70 km north of Perth, Western Australia. It is the only metre-class optical facility at this southern latitude between the east coast of Australia and SouthAfrica, and can rapidly image optical transients at a longitude notmonitored by other similar facilities.We report on first imaging tests of a pilot programofminor planet searches, and Target of Opportunity observations triggered by the Swift satellite. In 12 months, 6 gamma-ray burst afterglows were detected, with estimated magnitudes; two of them, GRB 090205 (z=4.65) and GRB 090516 (z=4.11), are among the most distant optical transients imaged by an Australian telescope. Many asteroidswere observed in a systematic 3-month search. In September 2009, an automatic telescope control systemwas installed, which will be used to link the facility to a global robotic telescope network; future targets will include fast optical transients triggered by high-energy satellites, radio transient detections, and LIGO gravitational wave candidate events. We also outline the importance of the facility as a potential tool for education, training, and public outreach. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19291 10.1071/AS09078 CSIRO fulltext |
| spellingShingle | minor planets instrumentation: miscellaneous asteroids gamma rays: bursts telescopes Coward, D. Todd, Michael Vaalsta, T. Laas-Bourez, M. Klotz, A. Imerito, A. Yan, L. Luckas, P. Fletcher, A. Zadnik, Marjan Burman, R. Blair, D. Zadko, J. Boer, M. Thierry, P. Howell, E. Gordon, S. Ahmat, A. Moore, J. Frost, K. The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title | The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title_full | The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title_fullStr | The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title_short | The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education |
| title_sort | zadko telescope: a southern hemisphere telescope for optical transient searches, multi-messenger astronomy and education |
| topic | minor planets instrumentation: miscellaneous asteroids gamma rays: bursts telescopes |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19291 |