Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
read the original abstract
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) is a young organization dedicated to time-domain observations at optical and (potentially) near-IR wavelengths. To this end, LCOGT is constructing a world-wide network of telescopes, including the two 2m Faulkes telescopes, as many as 17 x 1m telescopes, and as many as 23 x 40cm telescopes. These telescopes initially will be outfitted for imaging and (excepting the 40cm telescopes) spectroscopy at wavelengths between the atmospheric UV cutoff and the roughly 1-micron limit of silicon detectors. Since the first of LCOGT's 1m telescopes are now being deployed, we lay out here LCOGT's scientific goals and the requirements that these goals place on network architecture and performance, we summarize the network's present and projected level of development, and we describe our expected schedule for completing it. In the bulk of the paper, we describe in detail the technical approaches that we have adopted to attain the desired performance. In particular, we discuss our choices for the number and location of network sites, for the number and sizes of telescopes, for the specifications of the first generation of instruments, for the software that will schedule and control the network's telescopes and reduce and archive its data, and for the structure of the scientific and educational programs for which the network will provide observations.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 36 Pith papers
-
JWST observations of SN 2024abup: First Detection of CO in a broad-lined Type Ic Supernova and Constraints on r-process Nucleosynthesis
JWST spectra of SN 2024abup show CO, C, O, and Mg features plus possible dust emission, with no clear r-process signatures identified via SUMO modeling.
-
The 35-Myr old infant planet TOI-837 b has a mildly misaligned orbit
TOI-837 b has a true obliquity of 25.9+7.5-6.3 deg, the first planet younger than 100 Myr with accessible ψ incompatible with an aligned orbit, favoring primordial disc torque followed by disc-driven migration.
-
Discovery of an Inflated Hot Neptune and Its Formation from Jovian Mass Loss
TOI-2195 A b is an inflated hot Neptune that likely originated as a Jovian planet losing ~90% mass through Roche lobe overflow during EKL-driven high-eccentricity migration triggered by a wide binary companion.
-
JWST Observations of Calcium-Strong Transients: I. Complex Nebular He Emission in SN 2024uj
JWST/NIRSpec data on SN 2024uj reveal complex He I emission overlapping central Ca and O, plus CO and dust, favoring a thermonuclear origin from low-mass white dwarfs.
-
A Model Selection Criterion for Multidimensional Gaussian Processes: Application to Radial Velocities
Introduces MGIC_rv, an information criterion that combines conditional RV likelihood with an effective parameter count for selecting multi-GP models focused on radial velocities.
-
The Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Reverberation Mapping Project: Stable Optical Continuum Lags of an IMBH in the Dwarf Galaxy NGC 4395 Over Years
Optical continuum lags in NGC 4395 remain stable at 5-15 minutes over multi-year baselines with negligible diffuse continuum contribution.
-
SN 2020bij and a Possible Slow-Rise High-Velocity Subclass of Type IIP Supernovae
SN 2020bij and four other Type IIP SNe with slow-rising light curves and high velocities are modeled with weak to no CSM interaction, suggesting a new subclass linked to confined CSM.
-
Thermal X-rays breaking out from pre-explosion ejecta of a dying massive star
Detection of a thermal X-ray shock-breakout event from pre-explosion ejecta of a stripped massive star, indicating abrupt mass loss within a month of core collapse.
-
Mapping the nuclear environments of extreme coronal line emitting galaxies
Multi-epoch spectroscopy of 33 ECLEs shows coronal lines emitted at intermediate radii with log(distance)-log(black hole mass) slopes of 0.63 and 0.69 for [O III] and [Fe VII], consistent with photoionization setting ...
-
Optimal mitigation of random telegraph noise for improved photometry at high frame rates
A new algorithm correcting random telegraph noise jumps in CMOS sensors improves SNR of faint stellar light curves by over 5% on average and outperforms masking when the PSF is undersampled or noise sources are comparable.
-
ASTEP confirmation of a pair of long-period Jupiter-sized planets with extremely low densities transiting TOI-791
Two extremely low-density Jupiter-sized planets on long-period orbits around TOI-791 were confirmed via ground-based photometry and TTV-derived masses.
-
EP251023a: A fast X-ray transient featuring a magnetar-powered optical internal plateau followed by a steep decay
EP251023a is a new extragalactic fast X-ray transient whose optical light curve is interpreted as a rare magnetar-powered internal plateau with derived upper limits on spin period and magnetic field.
-
Kepler Image-Subtracted Light Curves and Variable Star Catalog of NGC 6819
Generates and publicly releases 81,498 detrended Kepler light curves plus a catalog of 87 periodic variables (26 new) in the 2.5 Gyr cluster NGC 6819 using Gaia DR3 for membership.
-
Kepler Image-Subtracted Light Curves and Variable Star Catalog of NGC 6819
Kepler image-subtracted photometry yields 81,498 light curves and a catalog of 87 periodic variable candidates in NGC 6819, including 26 newly discovered ones.
-
First Results from the LSST Shadow Survey: The Restless Luminous Blue Variable AT2017des in the Virgo-Cluster Galaxy, NGC4532
The DECam Shadow Survey has detected variable LBV eruptions in AT2017des with peaks brightening by ~0.05 mag per year, reaching luminosities similar to extreme SN impostors.
-
Stellar Obliquities of Young Systems, Atmospheres Undergoing Contraction and Escape (SOYSAUCE) II: a 135 Myr planet on an aligned orbit with transit timing variations
Validation of a 135 Myr, 3.6 R_E transiting planet with aligned obliquity and TTV evidence for a near-resonant companion.
-
A Changing-Look Seyfert Discovered by eROSITA Reveals a Two-Component Broad-Line Region
HE 1237-2252 exhibits a changing-look event driven by intrinsic accretion-rate variations, revealing a two-component broad-line region consisting of virialized gas at ~27 light-days and disk emission at larger radii.
-
Early interaction signatures and an extended plateau phase in Type II SN 2020aze
SN 2020aze displays early He II emission from ejecta-CSM interaction, a steep V-band decline, and semi-analytical modeling yields a ~14 solar-mass red supergiant progenitor with ~12 solar-mass ejecta and 1.5e51 erg ex...
-
Uncovering the Rapidly Evolving Orbits of the Dynamic TOI-201 System
TOI-201 has three planets whose co-transiting configuration will end in 200 years due to Kozai-Lidov oscillations driven by mutual inclinations.
-
A tidally detached super Neptune on a strongly misaligned retrograde orbit
TOI-1710 b has a true obliquity of 149 degrees indicating retrograde motion, favoring high-eccentricity migration via planet-planet scattering and Kozai-Lidov cycles for this tidally detached super-Neptune.
-
The Double-Peaked Calcium-Strong SN 2025coe: Progenitor Constraints from Early Interaction and Ejecta Asymmetries
SN 2025coe's double-peaked light curve and nebular spectra are consistent with either an asymmetric core-collapse explosion of a low-mass He-core progenitor or a thermonuclear hybrid white dwarf merger.
-
SN 2023rve: A Type II Supernova with No Nebular Oxygen
SN 2023rve exhibits absent [O I] nebular lines with inferred 14-18 solar mass progenitor, 0.27e51 erg explosion energy, and 0.0064 solar mass nickel, possibly indicating partial fallback.
-
The GAPS programme at TNG ?. TOI-1533: a compact system hosting a super-Neptune-mass pair with disparate radii
TOI-1533 hosts an inner sub-Neptune (P=3.63 d, R=3.15 R⊕) and outer super-Neptune-mass hot giant (P=8.06 d, R>7.5 R⊕, M≈40 M⊕, ρ<0.48 g cm⁻³) both transiting an active K-dwarf.
-
A Look at Eight Outbursts of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Analysis of eight 2021 outbursts on comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke using ground-based photometry yields ejecta masses of 10^5-10^6 kg and normalized rates comparable to several other comets but discrepant with 67P spacecraft data.
-
Long-term optical and near-infrared photometric evolution of SN 2019vxm, an interacting Type IIn supernova
Long-term multi-band photometry of SN 2019vxm shows initial thick CSM interaction, photosphere decoupling at 80-100 days, long-lasting dust emission, and a possible outer CSM rebrightening, implying a massive progenit...
-
The Eye of Sauron in SN 2025ngs: a Short-plateau Cousin of SN 1998S with Evidence for a Ring-like Circumstellar Medium
SN 2025ngs is a short-plateau supernova resembling SN 1998S but fainter, with spectral evidence for interaction with a proximate ring-like circumstellar medium around a supergiant progenitor.
-
Spectro-Polarimetric Observations of TeV Sources (SPOTS): First results
First results from the SPOTS campaign reveal low average optical polarization (≲10%) and low magnetic field ordering (F_B ≲0.10) across 14 TeV blazars, with stochastic or rotating polarization angles and wavelength-de...
-
TOI-159 b: an eccentric hot-Jupiter planet around a young, pulsating $\gamma$ Doradus star
TOI-159 b is confirmed as the hottest known eccentric hot Jupiter (e = 0.24) with a 13-sigma Keplerian detection around a young gamma Doradus star, including a preliminary low-resolution transmission spectrum.
-
AGN STORM 2. XII. Ground-Based Optical Photometry and Lag Measurements of Mrk 817
Reverberation lags in Mrk 817 range 3-8 days, exceed thin-disk models by factors of 3-6, follow a λ^{4/3} trend with the ICCF method, and vary by up to a factor of 2 between epochs.
-
Las Cumbres Observatory Gravitational-Wave Follow-up in the Third and Fourth Observing Runs: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Rapid Response Galaxy Targeted Strategy
LCO achieved rapid response and adequate depth for kilonovae to 250 Mpc in O3/O4 but the galaxy-targeted strategy was less efficient than expected because GW localizations exceeded prior assumptions.
-
EP250827b/SN 2025wkm: An X-ray Flash-Supernova Powered by a Central Engine and Circumstellar Interaction
EP250827b/SN 2025wkm is an X-ray flash supernova at z=0.1194 powered by a long-lived magnetar and disk winds interacting with extended circumstellar medium, without an on-axis relativistic jet.
-
A robotic pipeline for fast GRB followup with the Las Cumbres observatory network
A Python pipeline for robotic GRB optical followup with LCO that responds within 3 minutes and was demonstrated on GRB180720B.
-
TOI-6884b: A low-mass brown dwarf transiting a slightly evolved star
Discovery and orbital/stellar characterization of transiting brown dwarf TOI-6884b using TESS photometry corrected by ground-based RV and multi-epoch photometry.
-
Citizen Science Research with the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)
Reviews existing citizen science efforts like Radio Galaxy Zoo and RAD@home in radio astronomy and proposes SKA@home as a hybrid human-AI approach for SKA data.
-
TOI-2147 b and TOI-6019 b: Two eccentric warm Jupiters detected and characterized with TESS and MaHPS
Detection and characterization of two eccentric warm Jupiters TOI-2147 b (P=26.2 d, e=0.29, M=116 M⊕) and TOI-6019 b (P=14.5 d, e=0.48, M=149 M⊕) with TESS and MaHPS data, showing mildly inflated radii consistent with...
-
Early Optical Follow-up of Gamma-Ray Bursts: The Critical Role of Robotic Telescopes
A review of early optical GRB features including prompt emission, reverse shocks, and afterglow onset, highlighting robotic telescopes' role in constraining jet Lorentz factors and magnetization.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.