Introduction to the 7-Dimensional Telescope: Commissioning Procedures and Data Characteristics

TL;DR

The 7-Dimensional Telescope (7DT) is a multi-telescope system designed for rapid electromagnetic follow-up of gravitational-wave events, featuring spectral mapping with real-time data processing to identify EM counterparts.

Contribution

This paper introduces the 7DT system, detailing its design, commissioning procedures, and data characteristics, marking its first light and operational readiness for GW follow-up.

Findings

First light obtained in October 2023

Commissioning procedures completed successfully

System ready for early 2024 surveys

Abstract

The 7-Dimensional Telescope (7DT) is a multi-telescope system designed to identify electromagnetic (EM) counterparts of gravitational-wave (GW) sources. Consisting of 20 50-cm telescopes along with 40 medium-band filters of 25 nm width, 7DT can obtain spectral mapping images for a large field of view (~1.25 square degrees). Along with flexible operation, real-time data reduction, and analysis, the 7DT's spectral mapping capability enables 7DT to follow up GW events quickly and discover EM counterparts. Among 20 planned telescopes, 12 units are deployed at the El Sauce Observatory located at Rio Hurtado Valley in Chile. Since we obtained the first light of 7DT in October 2023, we started its commissioning procedures including examination of bias levels, master flat production, and spectrophotometric standardization. In this talk, we present 7DT instruments and their set-up, commissioning procedures, and data characteristics of 7DT along with our three-layered surveys which are assumed to be initiated in early 2024.