Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-04-18
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
18 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in PASP
Scientific paper
10.1086/518697
We present the most successful infrared cloud monitor for a robotic telescope. This system was originally developed for the MAGNUM 2-m telescope, which has been achieving unmanned and automated monitoring observation of active galactic nuclei at Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui since 2001. Using a thermal imager and two aspherical mirrors, it at once sees almost the whole sky at a wavelength of $\lambda\sim 10\mu{\rm m}$. Its outdoor part is weather-proof and is totally maintenance-free. The images obtained every one or two minutes are analysed immediately into several ranks of weather condition, from which our automated observing system not only decides to open or close the dome, but also selects what types of observations should be done. The whole-sky data accumulated over four years show that 50$-$60 % of all nights are photometric, and about 75 % are observable with respect to cloud condition at Haleakala. Many copies of this system are now used all over the world such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii, Atacama in Chile, and Okayama and Kiso in Japan.
Aoki Tadao
Enya Keigo
Kobayashi Yasuaki
Koshida Shintaro
Minezaki Takeo
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