TY - JOUR
T1 - The Weizmann Fast Astronomical Survey Telescope (W-FAST): System Overview
AU - Nir, Guy
AU - Ofek, Eran O
AU - Ben-Ami, Sagi
AU - Segev, Noam
AU - Polishook, David
AU - Hershko, Ofir
AU - Diner, Oz
AU - Manulis, Ilan
AU - Zackay, Barak
AU - Gal-Yam, Avishay
AU - Yaron, Ofer
PY - 2021/5/7
Y1 - 2021/5/7
N2 - A relatively unexplored phase space of transients and stellar variability is that of second and sub-second timescales. We describe a new optical observatory operating in the Negev desert in Israel, with a 55 cm aperture, a field of view of 2fdg6 × 2fdg6 (≈7 deg2) equipped with a high frame rate, low read noise, CMOS camera. The system can observe at a frame rate of up to 90 HZ (full frame), while nominally observations are conducted at 10–25 Hz. The data, generated at a rate of over 6 Gbits s−1 at a frame rate of 25 Hz, are analyzed in real time. The observatory is fully robotic and capable of autonomously collecting data on a few thousand stars in each field each night. We present the system overview, performance metrics, science objectives, and some first results, e.g., the detection of a high rate of glints from geosynchronous satellites, reported in Nir et al. 2020.
AB - A relatively unexplored phase space of transients and stellar variability is that of second and sub-second timescales. We describe a new optical observatory operating in the Negev desert in Israel, with a 55 cm aperture, a field of view of 2fdg6 × 2fdg6 (≈7 deg2) equipped with a high frame rate, low read noise, CMOS camera. The system can observe at a frame rate of up to 90 HZ (full frame), while nominally observations are conducted at 10–25 Hz. The data, generated at a rate of over 6 Gbits s−1 at a frame rate of 25 Hz, are analyzed in real time. The observatory is fully robotic and capable of autonomously collecting data on a few thousand stars in each field each night. We present the system overview, performance metrics, science objectives, and some first results, e.g., the detection of a high rate of glints from geosynchronous satellites, reported in Nir et al. 2020.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111002723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1538-3873/ac0da0
DO - 10.1088/1538-3873/ac0da0
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-6280
VL - 133
JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
IS - 1025
M1 - 075002
ER -