1. Remotely Automated Observations of Transiting Exoplanets
Aman Kar
Faculty Mentor – Dr. Hannah Jang-Condell

2. Image Courtesy : NASA
Exoplanets

3. Image Courtesy : WikiPedia

4. Transit Method Ingress Egress Image Courtesy : NASA
Ingress
Egress

5. Limitation Image Courtesy : Planet Hunters

6. Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope
Two Survey Telescopes with camera aperture size of 4.2 cm and field of view of 26 degrees by 26 degrees.
KELT-North is located at Winer Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
KELT-South is located in Cape Town, South Africa.
Discover exoplanets orbiting around bright stars.
Around 6 exoplanets have been confirmed and published.

7. Vanderbilt University and South African Astronomical Observatory
Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University
KELT North
KELT South

8. KELT – Follow Up Network (KELT-FUN)
KELT North & South

9. Red Buttes Observatory

10. Red Buttes Observatory (RBO)
Established in 1994, the Red Buttes Observatory is a 24 inch telescope located 9 miles south of Laramie
Initially funded by the NSF and later by UW
To provide undergraduates a hands-on opportunity to conduct research on a high quality telescope
Remotely operable from UW Campus and can also be automated

11. Instruments 0.6 m Telescope constructed by DFM Engineering, Inc.
1 megapixel Apogee Camera
Filter wheel to take colored images
Vantage Pro2 Weather Station

12. Automation of RBO Human Interaction Automated
Turn on Power to the Observatory
Connect to RBO’s Computer
Feed in Target Details
Check Weather Conditions
Initiate Startup Procedure
Make the Dome track the Telescope
Move Telescope to Target and track it
Cool down Camera and begin taking images
Send Dome and Telescope back to Home position
Initiate Shutdown Procedure
Human Interaction
Automated

13. Data from RBO
KC24C032390

14. Future Goals
To install more advanced instruments at the Red Buttes Observatory
To study variability of Young Stellar Objects
To continue pursuing follow-up observation for KELT Targets
To support future missions like K2 designed for discovering exoplanets
To make the observatory more accessible to undergraduates and graduate students

15. Team Members Previous Members: Tyler Ellis & Rex Yeigh
New Members: Rebecca Sorber, Daniel Hancock & Jacob Leuquire

16. References
Kasper, David H., et al "Remote Operations and Nightly Automation of The Red Buttes Observatory." Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2016.
Pepper, Joshua et al “The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT): A Small Robotic Telescope for Large‐Area Synoptic Surveys.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2007.

17. Questions?