FRONTIER RESEARCH IN ASTROPHYSICS IN THE GRAVITATIONAL WAVE ERA – I

In this paper we will provide several examples that marked the continuous evolution on the knowledge of the physics of our Universe, updating our recent review (Giovannelli & Sabau-Graziati, 2019a). We want to emphasize that all the objects in our Universe are interdependent on each other, and that the classifications - that are usually made to simplify problems - are artificial, since nature evolves in all its manifestations continuously.

FRONTIER RESEARCH IN ASTROPHYSICS IN THE GRAVITATIONAL WAVE ERA - II(EXOPLANETS AND EMERGENCE OF LIFE)

In this paper we will discuss exoplanets in the habitable zone of the Milky Way, the origin of terrestrial life, and what 'intelligent' humanity is doing, in order to complete the excursion on <i>The Bridge between the Big Bang and Biology</i>, started with the paper I (Giovannelli & Sabau-Graziati, 2020).

THE GWAC DATA PROCESSING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

GWAC will have been built an integrated FOV of 5,000 degree2 and have already built 1,800 square degree2. The limit magnitude of a 10-second exposure image in the moonless night is 16R. In each observation night, GWAC produces about 0.7TB of raw data, and the data processing pipeline generates millions of single frame alerts. We describe the GWAC Data Processing and Management System (GPMS), including hardware architecture, database, detection-filtering-validation of transient candidates, data archiving, and user interfaces for the check of transient and the monitor of the system. GPMS combines general technology and software in astronomy and computer field, and use some advanced technologies such as deep learning. Practical results show that GPMS can fully meet the scientific data processing requirement of GWAC. It can online accomplish the detection, filtering and validation of millions of transient candidates, and feedback the final results to the astronomer in real-time. During the observation from October of 2018 to December of 2019, we have already found 102 transients.

CHARACTERIZATION OF MODERN CCD AND CMOS SENSORS FOR SKY SURVEYS

Here we review the efforts we take in a newly established laboratory inside Institute of Physics in Prague in order to characterize modern large-format CCD and CMOS sensors for sky survey applications. While the laboratory is primarily established in order to participate in low-level CCD sensor characterization for LSST project, we also managed to perform a thorough laboratory testing of recently released Andor Marana sCMOS (which is especially interesting for wide-field sky monitoring applications due to its large format, backilluminated design, high achievable frame rate and low read-out noise), as well as detailed measurements of response non-linearity of Moravian Instruments G4-16000 CCD cameras (based on large-format Kodak KAF-16803 chip) used in several robotic telescopes. We briefly review the results acquired on these cameras, as well as hardware and software we developed for the laboratory.

ROLE OF THE 3.6M DOT TO INVESTIGATE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LONG-GRBS AND CORE-COLLAPSE SNE

Newly installed 3.6m DOT at Nainital (Uttarakhand) is a novel facility for the time domain astronomy. Because of the longitudinal advantage of India, it could be used to study new transients reported by a global network of robotic telescopes. Observations with the 4K × 4K CCD Imager at the axial port of the 3.6m DOT will be very helpful in the near future towards understanding the different physical aspects of time-critical events, e.g., Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), Supernovae, Gravitational wave candidates, etc. Using the Imager with broadband filters (Bessel UBVRI and SDSS ugriz), ~6.5' × 6.5' images could be obtained to attempt various science goals in synergy with other multi-band facilities. In this study, we present an analysis of unpublished R-band data of GRB 171205A/SN 2017iuk spanning between ~12 to 105 days since burst, that observed using the 3.6m DOT with 4K × 4K CCD Imager. In the R-band light curve, a bump appears to start from ~3 days, which shows the peak at ~15 days after the burst, clearly indicates photometric evidence of association of SN with GRB 171205A.

INTRODUCING OBSERVATORY OF IRANIAN SPACE AGENCY MAHDASHT SPACE CENTER

As robotic observatories getting more and more popular, it becomes mandatory for some places. In this regard, Iranian space agency trying to build the first robotic observatory in Iran. Although the telescope of Mahdasht space center is robotic at this time, it still needs more attention to make its dome robotic too. In this article, we introduce this space center and its development plan.

OBSERVATORIO EL SAUCE: HOSTING ROBOTIC SCIENCE IN CHILE

The "El Sauce" Observatory is a robotic remote observatory in Chile designed for hosting medium and small sized telescopes (<≈ 1m diameter). It currently hosts telescopes used for astro-photography, private and scientific purposes. Telescopes at El Sauce have been contributing regularly to follow-up of TESS objects of interests, and have participated in follow-up of gravitational wave events. In this work we describe the observatory, its infrastructure, and future scientific facilities that are planning to install at "El Sauce" such as a node of the ATLAS project.

EASTERN ANATOLIA OBSERVATORY (DAG): RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN 2019

Eastern Anatolia Observatory (DAG) will be the Turkey's largest (4m) and first infrared observatory is located in Erzurum city at the East part of Turkey with an altitude of 3170 m. We present the recent development of DAG until the end of September in 2019.

THE ZADKO OBSERVATORY

The 1.0 metre f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 approximately seventy kilometres north of Perth at Yeal, in the Shire of Gingin, Western Australia. Since the Zadko Telescope has been in operation it has proven its worth by detecting numerous Gamma Ray Burst afterglows, two of these being the most distant 'optical transients' imaged by an Australian telescope. Other projects include a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to image potentially hazardous near Earth asteroids (2019), monitoring space weather on nearby stars (2019), and photometry of a transit of Saturn's moon Titan (2018). Another active Zadko Telescope project is tracking Geostationary satellites and attempting to use photometry to classify various space debris (defunct satellites). The Zadko Telescope's importance as a potential tool for education, training, and public outreach cannot be underestimated, as the global awareness of the importance of astronomy (and space science) as a context for teaching science continues to increase. An example of this was the national media coverage of its contribution to the discovery of colliding neutron stars in 2017, capturing the imagination of the public. In this proceeding, I will focus on the practical aspects of managing a robotic Observatory, focusing on the sustainability of the Observatory and the technical management involved in hosting different commercial projects. I will review the evolution of the Observatory, from its early, single instrument, state to its current multi-telescope and multi-instrument capabilities. I will finish by outlining the future of the Observatory and the site.

GRANDMA: A NETWORK TO COORDINATE THEM ALL

GRANDMA is an international project that coordinates telescope observations of transient sources with large localization uncertainties. Such sources include gravitational wave events, gamma-ray bursts and neutrino events. GRANDMA currently coordinates 25 telescopes (70 scientists), with the aim of optimizing the imaging strategy to maximize the probability of identifying an optical counterpart of a transient source. This paper describes the motivation for the project, organizational structure, methodology and initial results.