pyobs - An Observatory Control System for Robotic Telescopes

Abstract

We present a Python-based framework for the complete operation of a robotic telescope observatory. It provides out-of-the-box support for many popular camera types while other hardware like telescopes, domes, and weather stations can easily be added via a thin abstraction layer to existing code. Common functionality like focusing, acquisition, auto-guiding, sky-flat acquisition, and pipeline calibration are ready for use. A remote-control interface, a “mastermind” for truly robotic operations as well as an interface to the Las Cumbres Observatory observation portal is included. The whole system is fully configurable and easily extendable. We are currently running pyobs successfully on three different types of telescopes, of which one is a siderostat for observing the Sun. pyobs uses open standards and open software wherever possible and is itself freely available.

Status of Boyden observatory and equipment for optical counterpart studies of high energy sources

“…Watcher is currently being upgraded to better match and integrate with the BOOTES network and similar autonomous observatory systems, with the aim to do simultaneous observations alongside BOOTES-6. The upgrade has the goal to ease support and compatibility using modern and scalable tools such as pyobs [23]. Final testing and resume of normal observations will start in Spring 2024.…”