Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope

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Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope, Aug 2019 2.jpg
The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope dome
Alternative namesKAIT OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Location(s) Santa Clara County, California, Pacific States Region
Coordinates 37°20′36″N121°38′05″W / 37.343344°N 121.634822°W / 37.343344; -121.634822 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
First light 1996
Diameter76 cm (2 ft 6 in) OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Website www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/kait.html,%20https://www.ucolick.org/main/science/telescopes/kait.html OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Location of Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
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The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) is an automated telescope used in the search for supernovae.

Contents

The telescope had a first light in 1998, and is a noted robotic telescope. [1] It had first recorded data in August 1996, and was formally dedicated late that year. [2] It was used for the Lick Observatory Supernova Search. [2]

The KAIT is a computer-controlled reflecting telescope with a 76 cm mirror and a CCD camera to take pictures. It is located at the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California.

KAIT can take close to 100 images per hour and observe about 1000 galaxies a night.

The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope is a robotic telescope designed to look for supernova. [2] The telescope uses 76 cm (30 inch) diameter mirror that feeds a CCD imager with 20 slot filter wheel. [2] The telescope is also supported by an electronic weather station, that can feed data to the robotic telescope control system. [2] Several computers run software that controls the telescope and take in the data from the sensors. [2]

The telescope's development was funded by the NSF at private donors since 1989, turning 30-inch (~760 mm) telescope in a computer controlled super nova huntress. [3] The telescope can also monitor the brightness of variable stars. [3]

Observations and research

KAIT discovered its first supernova in 1997, SN 1997bs. [2] The next year (1998) twenty supernova were found after improvements to the telescope, and in 1999 forty supernova were discovered. [2]

The telescope has been noted for discovering the supernova SN 1999em. [4] This super nova was in the spiral galaxy NGC 1637, and was observed later by telescope such as the VLT (4x8.2m). [4]

Another example of KAIT discovery was SN 1999ec, a type Ib supernova that was discovered in the interacting galaxy NGC 2207 on October 2, 1999. [5]

In 2011, KAIT was one of six telescopes used for the Lick AGN Monitoring Project. [6]

Between 1998 and 2013, KAIT had discovered 900 supernova. [7] In 2013, the supernova 2013ej was discovered by KAIT in the galaxy Messier 74; it was noted for being as bright as 10th magnitude. [7]

In 2014, KAIT helped determine the age of a supernova found in the galaxy M83, because it had images of that region of the sky from just a few days prior to its discovery, establishing it had not brightened at that time. [8]

In 2016, KAIT spotted the super nova SN 2016coj in NGC 4125, thought to be a Type Ia supernova. [9]

In 2019, KAIT was one of the telescopes whose data was used in a study on Blazars. [10]

Discoveries

Year [11] SupernovaeNovaeDwarf NovaeComets
199820421
199940171
200038200
200168300
200282200
200395500
200483000
200582000
200684000
200769000
200877000
200954000
201051000

See also

References

  1. "The 0.76 m KAIT telescope, adapted from [28]". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Filippenko, Alexei V.; Li, W. D.; Treffers, R. R.; Modjaz, Maryam (2001). "2001ASPC..246..121F Page 121". IAU Colloq. 183: Small Telescope Astronomy on Global Scales. 246: 121. Bibcode:2001ASPC..246..121F.
  3. 1 2 "Automated Supernova Searches To Begin At Lick Observatory". EurekAlert!. Archived from the original on 2005-05-01. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  4. 1 2 "Spiral Beauty Graced by Fading Supernova". www.eso.org. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  5. Jha, S.; et al. (1999). "Supernova 1999ec in NGC 2207". IAU Circular. 7269: 2. Bibcode:1999IAUC.7269....2J.
  6. A. Panncoast, et al. - The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Photometric Light Curves (2019) - American Astronomical Society
  7. 1 2 "Bright supernova in M74". Sky & Telescope. 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  8. Science, Megan Gannon 2014-01-22T21:40:49Z; Astronomy (22 January 2014). "Exploding Star: New Supernova Discovery Is Closest in Years". Space.com. Retrieved 2019-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. Lewis, Danny. "Spy Two Supernovae in June's Night Sky". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  10. Liodakis, Ioannis; Romani, Roger W.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Kocevski, Daniel; Zheng, WeiKang (2019-07-22). "Probing Blazar Emission Processes with Optical/Gamma-Ray Flare Correlations". The Astrophysical Journal. 880 (1): 32. arXiv: 1905.11418 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...880...32L. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab26b7 . ISSN   1538-4357. S2CID   167217500.
  11. "The KAIT Home Page". Archived from the original on 2006-04-22. Retrieved 2006-01-05.