Deployment and Testing of KELT-South
Abstract
The KELT-South telescope is a wide-field, small aperture robotic telescope recently deployed at Sutherland, South Africa. Based on the design of the KELT-North telescope in Arizona, KELT-South will survey the southern sky for planetary transits of bright (8 < V < 10) stars. It consists of a 4k by 4k Apogee CCD camera with a medium format telephoto lens, mounted on a Paramount ME mount. Here we describe the instrument, robotic operations, site, and observing strategy. We also describe the instrument's performance and prospects for planet discovery based on initial measurements and observations. The KELT-South project is funded by the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics (VIDA) at Vanderbilt University, and by the NSF PAARE grant AST-0849736. We also thank the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) for cooperation with KELT-South and operational support.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21542112K