RoboNet-II: Follow-up observations of microlensing events with a robotic network of telescopes

TL;DR

RoboNet-II employs a global robotic telescope network to follow up on microlensing events, aiming to detect exoplanets and improve planetary formation models through automated, coordinated observations and anomaly detection.

Contribution

This paper introduces RoboNet-II's expanded robotic telescope network and its integrated automated systems for optimized microlensing follow-up observations.

Findings

Successful coordination of telescopes across multiple continents

Implementation of automated target selection and scheduling

Effective anomaly detection in microlensing data

Abstract

RoboNet-II uses a global network of robotic telescopes to perform follow-up observations of microlensing events in the Galactic Bulge. The current network consists of three 2m telescopes located in Hawaii and Australia (owned by Las Cumbres Observatory) and the Canary Islands (owned by Liverpool John Moores University). In future years the network will be expanded by deploying clusters of 1m telescopes in other suitable locations. A principal scientific aim of the RoboNet-II project is the detection of cool extra-solar planets by the method of gravitational microlensing. These detections will provide crucial constraints to models of planetary formation and orbital migration. RoboNet-II acts in coordination with the PLANET microlensing follow-up network and uses an optimization algorithm ("web-PLOP") to select the targets and a distributed scheduling paradigm (eSTAR) to execute the observations. Continuous automated assessment of the observations and anomaly detection is provided by the ARTEMiS system.