Astronomy traditionally deals with precise and detailed observations of celestial objects taken one at a time. A complementary approach is becoming more important, which is to patrol large areas of sky over substantial intervals of time, and a wide range of important science is enabled by this approach. The "Evryscope" robotic telescope being built under this project covers a very wide field of view on the sky, using an array of twenty-three individual apertures of 7 cm diameter, each outfitted with large-format detectors. This telescope will produce a complete record of Northern sky events, and will be able to monitor the light output from all Northern stars, down to significantly faint levels. By these observations, sensitive searches for planets around other stars will be carried out, as well as studies of stellar outbursts and activity. The system will also be sensitive to the famous gamma-ray burst (GRB) sources, nearby supernovae, and possible counterparts to any gravitational wave detections that might be made by gravitational wave observatories now in operation.
Evryscope utilizes 29 Megapixel imagers on each individual telescope, and each covers 394 square degrees of field. The design sensitivity is such that Northern sky events down to 19th magnitude will be monitored. Light curves of better than 1% precision, with high cadence and many years' duration, will be obtained for every Northern star brighter than 16th magnitude. The system will be capable of detecting transiting exoplanets around every solar-type star brighter than 12th magnitude, providing at least few-millimagnitude photometric precision in long-term light curves. Around the brightest and closest stars it is expected to double the known number of transiting hot Jupiters. The Evryscope will also search for small planets transiting nearby M-dwarfs, for planetary occultations of white dwarfs, and will perform eclipse-timing searches for exoplanets around exotic stellar systems inaccessible to other planet-finding methods.
This project will integrate undergraduates into the research program, and plans an innovative collaboration with planetariums to create zoom-able images of the sky that will involve the general public in astronomical research.
Funding for this project is being provided by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences through its Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program.
