GOTO Observatory

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Stellar work from our team following up transients and GOTO discoveries in real-time through our GOTO-FAST program https://t.co/ucpWVr9Q1W

[Warwick Physics @WarwickPhysics]

Interested in identifying cosmic explosions in real-time?

@warwickastro PhD student, Tom Killestein & colleagues @portsmouthuni developed a project where volunteers are asked to 'spot the difference' using data from the two telescopes @GOTOObservatory

👉https://t.co/hZrw3m4RLB

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

It's was a busy first week on Kilonova Seekers, with over 150,000 classifications from more than 770 volunteers! -- thanks to all who've gotten involved, we're just getting started! Read more: https://t.co/Z9JlQElc5y

Join our search for transients at https://t.co/V6jzqIk9Ga

[The Zooniverse @the_zooniverse]

Today we're launching 🚀 Kilonova Seekers! ✨

https://t.co/BSEEyiVdqh

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

We're excited to launch our new citizen science project @the_zooniverse, Kilonova Seekers -- join us at https://t.co/V6jzqIkHvI to seek out cosmic explosions from neutron star mergers detected by @LIGO, and unearth hidden gems hiding in our data!
Img: Krzysztof Ulaczyk (2021)

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

As template vetting efforts pick up (and as a break from thesis writing for one of the admins!), here's a bumper GOTO Picture of the Week - centred on galaxies! Of the billions visible in our images, here's a few flagged by our team of vetters as particularly spectacular

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Back in the North, our GOTO Picture of the Week is a common artifact we've lovingly nicknamed the 'GOTO Jellyfish'. Stars visible with the naked eye are so bright they cause scattering/reflections GOTO's telescopes, visible as these unusual caustic-like patterns.

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Both systems are now on sky and taking data at GOTO South @SidingSpring - commissioning continues at pace, as we optimise 16 new unit telescopes for maximal performance, and tie them into our control/scheduling software. Stay tuned for our first light image from the South!

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

GOTO Picture of the Week:
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), nicknamed the 'green comet', popped up in one of our templates from 2023-01-25 (thanks David O'Neill!), two weeks after perihelion. No colour in our images as we use a single 'L' band filter to catch as much light as possible.

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Both domes now fully populated with telescopes thanks to our awesome away team: now commissioning can begin! Time to install the cameras, compute hardware, and start integrating everything into our control software/pipelines.

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Perfect telescope-building weather at Siding Spring Observatory for putting together the second GOTO South node - exciting to see everything coming together!

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Dome 1 is fully populated with telescopes - when the cameras are installed we'll have a 45 square degree field of view - that's about 210 full moons!

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Telescopes being craned into our first Southern dome, with some helpful supervision from the locals - great work from our away team!

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Meanwhile back at GOTO North, the telescopes have been busy gathering templates for O4. This weeks' edition of GOTO Picture of the Week shows a rich galaxy group, and dense stellar clusters in the galactic plane

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

We're down in Siding Spring preparing the GOTO South node for deployment! We'll share pictures here as everything comes together, including our first light pictures - stay tuned! (Beautiful images from the site courtesy Krzysztof Ulaczyk)

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

More cosmic gems spotted in our GOTO Picture of the Week (GPOW?) - the globular clusters Messier 53 and NGC 5053. These two clusters likely interacted in the past as they're around 2kpc apart, and have a tidal bridge. (thanks to @TelescopicViews for flagging this one!)

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

In between building up our all-sky templates and preparing for the upcoming O4 run, there's still time to marvel at the wonders of space! One of our collab members spotted Messier 97, the Owl Nebula(https://t.co/wAaLcEJbUq), hiding in one of our deep reference stacks.

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

@SidingSpring @DuncanKGalloway After 4 days of hard work, ably supported by the ANU site staff, we now have two fully functional domes! Next step will be the telescope deployment, hopefully to take place in early 2023 (in time for @LIGO's 4th observing period)

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

After some long delays including from serious flooding in parts of NSW, the platform for our GOTO-South node at @SidingSpring was finally completed in late November. This week collaboration members Paul Chote and @DuncanKGalloway visited to assemble the domes

[GOTO Observatory @GOTOObservatory]

Join us! @WarwickAstro is offering a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Joe Lyman via his UKRI Fellowship on “New frontiers in transient astrophysics: gravitational-wave multi-messenger events and exotic stellar explosions" Closing Nov 9 https://t.co/4SIuXBATsu