Astronomy goes automatic

Details Astronomy goes automatic Astronomy goes automatic

Apr 1986

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986newsc.110...36p&link_type=abstract

New Scientist (ISSN 0028-6664), vol. 110, April 17, 1986, p. 36-39.

Physics

Optics

Astronomical Spectroscopy, Automatic Control, Fiber Optics, Robots, Schmidt Telescopes, Technology Utilization

Scientific paper

The increasing research into large scale features of the Universe have led various astronomers to use fiber optics at the focal point of optical telescopes. Each fiber receives individual object images for automated spectrographic processing. The method permits measuring the redshifts of several hundred galaxies in a few nights, a technique that helped reveal that individual galaxies formed before the clusters. Although the method provides sufficient data for effective statistical analyses, other improvements are required for speeding up the process, e.g., automated fiber optics placement. One relatively low-cost prototype device, AUTOFIB, features a single robot placement head guided by microprocessors. AUTOFIB positions each element, starting from the innermost elements, and moves outward while avoiding tangling the cables. It sits at the rim while the observations are made. The drawback to AUTOFIB, compared to the MX system wich positions all fibers at once using individual arms, is that AUTOFIB takes almost 8 min to move all the fibers. Both systems are, however, harbingers of an expanding future of multi-object spectroscopy.

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