Liverpool Telescope 2: beginning the design phase

Christopher M. Copperwheat; Iain A. Steele; Robert M. Barnsley; Stuart D. Bates; Mike F. Bode; Neil R. Clay; Chris A. Collins; Helen E. Jermak; Johan H. Knapen; Jon M. Marchant; Chris J. Mottram; Andrzej S. Piascik; Robert J. Smith

doi:10.1117/12.2231755

27 July 2016 Liverpool Telescope 2: beginning the design phase

Christopher M. Copperwheat, Iain A. Steele, Robert M. Barnsley, Stuart D. Bates, Mike F. Bode, Neil R. Clay, Chris A. Collins, Helen E. Jermak, Johan H. Knapen, Jon M. Marchant, Chris J. Mottram, Andrzej S. Piascik, Robert J. Smith

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9906, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VI; 99063A (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231755
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic 2-metre telescope located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004, and currently seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient followup and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Work has begun on a successor facility with the working title ‘Liverpool Telescope 2’. We are entering a new era of time domain astronomy with new discovery facilities across the electromagnetic spectrum, and the next generation of optical survey facilities such as LSST are set to revolutionise the field of transient science in particular. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time, and will be designed to meet the challenges of this new era. Following a conceptual design phase, we are about to begin the detailed design which will lead towards the start of construction in 2018, for first light ∼2022. In this paper we provide an overview of the facility and an update on progress.

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Christopher M. Copperwheat, Iain A. Steele, Robert M. Barnsley, Stuart D. Bates, Mike F. Bode, Neil R. Clay, Chris A. Collins, Helen E. Jermak, Johan H. Knapen, Jon M. Marchant, Chris J. Mottram, Andrzej S. Piascik, and Robert J. Smith "Liverpool Telescope 2: beginning the design phase", Proc. SPIE 9906, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VI, 99063A (27 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231755

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