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arXiv · 2609.18443

The GOTO Telescope Control System

Martin J. Dyer·Vik S. Dhillon·Stuart Littlefair·Kendall Ackley·Sergey Belkin·Lisa Kelsey·Tom Killestein·Amit Kumar·Joseph Lyman·David O'Neill·Krzysztof Ulaczyk·Ben Godson·Dan Jarvis·Danny Steeghs·Duncan K. Galloway·Paul O'Brien·Gavin Ramsay·Kanthanakorn Noysena·Rubina Kotak·Rene Breton·Laura Nuttall·Ben Gompertz·Jorge Casares Velázquez·Don Pollacco
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Abstract

The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) operates a network of robotic, wide-field survey telescopes searching for optical transients to gravitational-wave signals and other astronomical events. Since 2023, the network has comprised two antipodal sites in the Canary Islands and Australia, each hosting two independent robotic mounts. The GOTO Telescope Control System (G-TeCS) is a custom Python software package that manages all operational aspects of the network; from alert processing and target scheduling to onsite hardware operations and monitoring. The central system consists of an alert monitor, observation database and scheduler, which issues targets to the four nodes. Each telescope operates using a system of independent control daemons, with a pilot master control program to coordinate nightly operations. This architecture, in development since 2015, provides a flexible and robust system that now successfully operates the fully autonomous network.

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Martin J. Dyer, Vik S. Dhillon, Stuart Littlefair, Kendall Ackley, Sergey Belkin, Lisa Kelsey, Tom Killestein, Amit Kumar, Joseph Lyman, David O'Neill, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Ben Godson, Dan Jarvis, Danny Steeghs, Duncan K. Galloway, Paul O'Brien, Gavin Ramsay, Kanthanakorn Noysena, Rubina Kotak, Rene Breton, Laura Nuttall, Ben Gompertz, Jorge Casares Velázquez, Don Pollacco. 2026-09-16. The GOTO Telescope Control System. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3102830

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