The Large Array Survey Telescope -- System Overview and Performances
E. O. Ofek, S. Ben-Ami, D. Polishook, E. Segre, A. Blumenzweig, N. L., Strotjohann, O. Yaron, Y. M. Shani, S. Nachshon, Y. Shvartzvald, O. Hershko,, M. Engel, M. Segre, N. Segev, E. Zimmerman, G. Nir, Y. Judkovsky, A. Gal-Yam,, B. Zackay, E. Waxman, D. Kushnir, P. Chen

TL;DR
The Large Array Survey Telescope (LAST) is a cost-effective, wide-field array of 48 small telescopes designed to monitor the variable and transient sky with high cadence, providing high-quality data for astronomical research.
Contribution
This paper presents the system overview, design, and performance metrics of LAST, a novel large array telescope system optimized for transient sky surveys.
Findings
System achieves a 5-sigma limiting magnitude of about 19.6 in 20 seconds.
Astrometric precision is approximately 30-60 milliarcseconds, depending on exposure.
Photometric calibration accuracy is around 10 millimagnitudes relative to GAIA.
Abstract
The Large Array Survey Telescope (LAST) is a wide-field visible-light telescope array designed to explore the variable and transient sky with a high cadence. LAST will be composed of 48, 28-cm f/2.2 telescopes (32 already installed) equipped with full-frame backside-illuminated cooled CMOS detectors. Each telescope provides a field of view (FoV) of 7.4 deg^2 with 1.25 arcsec/pix, while the system FoV is 355 deg^2 in 2.9 Gpix. The total collecting area of LAST, with 48 telescopes, is equivalent to a 1.9-m telescope. The cost-effectiveness of the system (i.e., probed volume of space per unit time per unit cost) is about an order of magnitude higher than most existing and under-construction sky surveys. The telescopes are mounted on 12 separate mounts, each carrying four telescopes. This provides significant flexibility in operating the system. The first LAST system is under construction…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstronomy and Astrophysical Research · Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation
