Telescope and instrument robotization at Dome C

K. G. Strassmeier (1) , Karim Agabi (2) , L. Agnoletto (3) , Alasdair Allan (4) , Michael I. Andersen (1) , Wolfgang R. Ansorge (5) , F. Bortoletto (6) , R. Briguglio (7) , Jean-Tristan Buey (8, 9, 10, 11) , S. Castellini (12) , Vincent Coudé Du Foresto (8, 9, 10, 11) , Luc Damé (13, 8) , Hans J. Deeg (14) , Carlos Eiroa (15) , Gilles Durand (16) , D. Fappani (17) , M. Frezzotti (18) , T. Granzer (1) , A. Gröschke (19) , H. J. Kärcher (20) , Rainer Lenzen (21) , A. Mancini (12) , C. Montanari (3) , A. Mora (15) , A. Pierre (22) , O. Pirnay (23) , F. Roncella (12) , Francois-Xavier Schmider (2) , I. Steele (24) , John W. Storey (25) , N. F. H. Tothill (4) , Tony Travouillon (26) , L. Vittuari (27)

1 AIP - Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
2 LUAN - Laboratoire Universitaire d'Astrophysique de Nice
3 PNRA - Italian National Program for Research in Antarctica
4 School of Physics and Astronomy [Exeter]
5 RAMS-CON Management Consultants
6 OAPD - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
7 Dipartimento di Fisica [Roma La Sapienza]
8 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
9 Pôle Astronomie du LESIA
10 Ingénieurs, Techniciens et Administratifs
11 Physique solaire
12 Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia [Perugia]
13 SA - Service d'aéronomie
14 IAC - Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
15 IFT - Instituto de Física Teórica UAM/CSIC
16 AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
17 SESO - Société Européenne de Systèmes Optiques
18 ENEA - Ente per le Nuove Technologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente
19 AWI - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
20 MT Mechatronics
21 MPI Aeronomie - Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie
22 IPEV - L'Institut polaire français Paul-Emile Victor
23 AMOS
24 LJMU - Liverpool John Moores University
25 UNSW - University of New South Wales [Sydney]
26 Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics
27 DISTART - Dipartimento di Ingegneria delle Strutture, dei Trasporti, delle Acque, del Rilevamento, del Territorio

This article reviews the situation for robotization of telescopes and instruments at the Antarctic station Concordia on Dome C. A brain-storming meeting was held in Tenerife in March 2007 from which this review emerged. We describe and summarize the challenges for night-time operations of various astronomical experiments at conditions ``between Earth and Space'' and conclude that robotization is likely a prerequisite for continuous astronomical data taking during the 2000-hour night at Dome C.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

K. G. Strassmeier, Karim Agabi, L. Agnoletto, Alasdair Allan, Michael I. Andersen, et al.. Telescope and instrument robotization at Dome C. Astronomical Notes / Astronomische Nachrichten, 2007, 328 (6), pp.451-474. ⟨10.1002/asna.200710780⟩. ⟨hal-03785281⟩