The gravitational-wave optical transient observer (GOTO)

Martin J. Dyer; Kendall Ackley; Felipe Jiménez-Ibarra; Joe Lyman; Krzysztof Ulaczyk; Danny Steeghs; Duncan K. Galloway; Vik S. Dhillon; Paul O'Brien; Gavin Ramsay; Kanthanakorn Noysena; Rubina Kotak; Rene Breton; Laura Nuttall; Enric Pallé; Don Pollacco; Tom Killestein; Amit Kumar; David O'Neill; Lisa Kelsey; Ben Godson; Dan Jarvis

doi:10.1117/12.3018305

28 August 2024 The gravitational-wave optical transient observer (GOTO)

Martin J. Dyer, Kendall Ackley, Felipe Jiménez-Ibarra, Joe Lyman, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Danny Steeghs, Duncan K. Galloway, Vik S. Dhillon, Paul O'Brien, Gavin Ramsay, Kanthanakorn Noysena, Rubina Kotak, Rene Breton, Laura Nuttall, Enric Pallé, Don Pollacco, Tom Killestein, Amit Kumar, David O'Neill, Lisa Kelsey, Ben Godson, Dan Jarvis

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13094, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes X; 130941X (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018305
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a project dedicated to identifying optical counterparts to gravitational-wave detections using a network of dedicated, wide-field telescopes. After almost a decade of design, construction, and commissioning work, the GOTO network is now fully operational with two antipodal sites: La Palma in the Canary Islands and Siding Spring in Australia. Both sites host two independent robotic mounts, each with a field-of-view of 44 square degrees formed by an array of eight 40cm telescopes, resulting in an instantaneous 88 square degree field-of-view per site. All four telescopes operate as a single integrated network, with the ultimate aim of surveying the entire sky every 2–3 days and allowing near-24-hour response to transient events within a minute of their detection. In the modern era of transient astronomy, automated telescopes like GOTO form a vital link between multi-messenger discovery facilities and in-depth follow-up by larger telescopes. GOTO is already producing a wide range of scientific results, assisted by an efficient discovery pipeline and a successful citizen science project: Kilonova Seekers.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Martin J. Dyer, Kendall Ackley, Felipe Jiménez-Ibarra, Joe Lyman, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Danny Steeghs, Duncan K. Galloway, Vik S. Dhillon, Paul O'Brien, Gavin Ramsay, Kanthanakorn Noysena, Rubina Kotak, Rene Breton, Laura Nuttall, Enric Pallé, Don Pollacco, Tom Killestein, Amit Kumar, David O'Neill, Lisa Kelsey, Ben Godson, and Dan Jarvis "The gravitational-wave optical transient observer (GOTO)", Proc. SPIE 13094, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes X, 130941X (28 August 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018305

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