Kitt Peak Observatory Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory NOAO System Science Center
Credit: SOAR/Bruno Quint
Automated Observing Network Inaugurated at SOAR Telescope
New telescope network to rapidly follow up on the changing night sky
While the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will soon discover millions of time varying sources—such as supernovae and erupting young stars—quick follow up observations are needed to understand these events. To meet the challenge of developing a network of telescopes that can be accessed with a touch of a button, four observatories have joined forces to create the Astronomical Event Observatory Network (AEON). The SOAR telescope at CTIO has just completed the first observing night for the network.
Read more in NOAO Press Release 19-08.
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The Kitt Peak Mayall’s Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project, which will conduct the most ambitious cosmic cartography experiment ever, is featured in this Nature news article. -
A Whirlpool Warhol: It all depends on how you look at it—galaxies appear different in visible light (top left image, taken with the KPNO 2.1m) than at longer wavelengths, in the infrared. -
What’s Your Moonshot? Newsweek profiles NOAO Astronomer Aaron Meisner whose citizen science project, Backyard Worlds, aims to discover cold new worlds. -
Observations made with KPED, a new instrument developed for use at the Kitt Peak 2.1-meter telescope, have led to the discovery of the fastest eclipsing white dwarf binary yet known. -
On 2 July 2019, a total solar eclipse passed over Chile and Argentina, crossing directly over the telescopes on CTIO. View this spectacular event as seen from CTIO. -
Three new imaging surveys pave the way for the upcoming the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which will explore the role of dark energy in the expansion history of the Universe. -
The June 2019 NOAO Newsletter is online and ready to download. It contains sections on Science Highlights, Community Science & Data, System Observing, and NOAO Operations & Staff.
NOAO is the national center for ground-based nighttime astronomy in the United States and is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. If you would like information about solar astronomy, visit the National Solar Observatory. If you would like information about radio astronomy, visit the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.