The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)

TL;DR

GOTO is a wide-field robotic telescope project designed to rapidly detect optical counterparts to gravitational-wave events by surveying the entire visible sky every two nights across multiple sites.

Contribution

This paper introduces the GOTO project, detailing its design, deployment, and potential for rapid, wide-area optical follow-up of gravitational-wave sources.

Findings

First two GOTO mounts commissioned at La Palma.

Construction of additional mounts at Siding Spring Observatory.

Networked multi-site observatory capable of surveying entire visible sky bi-nightly.

Abstract

The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a wide-field telescope project focused on detecting optical counterparts to gravitational-wave sources. Each GOTO robotic mount holds eight 40 cm telescopes, giving an overall field of view of 40 square degrees. As of 2022 the first two GOTO mounts have been commissioned at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands, and construction of the second node with two additional 8-telescope mounts has begin at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. Once fully operational each GOTO mount will be networked to form a robotic, multi-site observatory, which will survey the entire visible sky every two nights and enable rapid follow-up detections of transient sources.