There will be 21 telescopes spaced around the world, arranged in clusters of three telescopes at each of seven sites in the North and South hemispheres. Weather permitting, this enables continuous coverage of celestial objects of interest - mainly time-variable objects. Each telescope is an f/8 system with a 4K CCD providing a 27 arcmin field of view (almost as big as the full moon), and a comprehensive filter set. read more »
LCOGT astronomers and collaborators searching for extrasolar planets by transit or microlensing techniques.
The discovery of planets orbiting distant stars is one of the most exciting fields in astronomy today and interest in it is continuously growing. The first discovery of a massive planetary companion (exoplanet) to a main-sequence star opened new horizons to our understanding of how planets form. New research fields are fast emerging, such as the field of Astrobiology which focuses on the study of proto-stellar systems, planets and ultimately life itself. read more »
The projected capabilities of the LCOGT are driven by the requirements of time-domain astrophysics. Our aim is to provide two complete, longitudinally-distributed rings of research telescopes, one in the northern hemisphere, and one in the south. With such a network of similar telescopes, it will be possible to follow the time variations of single objects for days or weeks with a high duty cycle. read more »
