Funds Will Provide Open Access to the LCO Network
Las Cumbres Observatory is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of $2,000,000 from the Heising-Simons Foundation. This project will provide access to the LCO telescopes for the entire astronomical community. With the unique benefits of LCO’s follow-up network, astronomers around the world will be able to reap a greater science return from current and future discovery surveys.
LCO is a globally distributed network of robotically controlled telescopes, optimized for research in time domain astronomy. The network comprises 25 telescopes, located at seven professional observatory sites around the world. The network operates around-the-clock as a single, integrated, observatory. As the Earth rotates, LCO scheduling software activates different telescopes. Observations are always in progress and data are always being collected. No other observatory provides LCO’s full set of capabilities.
The geographic distribution of LCO’s network and the telescopes available at each site.
LCO’s network provides a powerful resource for time domain astronomy, as well as a model for the kind of infrastructure and operations procedures that are essential for making follow-up observations of discoveries by current surveys and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which will begin observations in 2025.
This grant will provide LCO network open access for all astronomers for the next four years, covering eight 6-month observing semesters. LCO is accessible to all institutions that host astronomers, regardless of size or resource level. LCO will be accepting Open Access proposals and will evaluate those proposals with the assistance of a committee of external scientists. Observing time on the telescope network will be awarded based on scientific merit and technical feasibility.
Since its inception, LCO has taken a community-based approach to maximizing science with the use of its network. Its unique features - global distribution of telescopes, uniform instrumentation, fully robotic operations, dynamic scheduling, and rapid data delivery - are not duplicated by any other facility. LCO complements other observatories on the ground and in space. This proposal will continue to make LCO’s capabilities available to the broader astronomical community.
Dr. Lisa Storrie-Lombardi, LCO President and Observatory Director, is delighted with the investment that the Heising-Simons Foundation is making in the future of time domain astronomy. “This award allows LCO to continue to support more science and observers through the astronomical community with open access to the network.”
“This is the golden era of time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy,” said Dr. Jochen Marschall, Science Director at the Foundation. “LCO’s network of telescopes is a unique and valuable resource for this kind of science, and we are delighted to support open access to the observatory so that more astronomers can leverage its powerful capabilities.”
For more information:
LCO Media Contact: Sandy Seale (sseale@lco.global)
LCO Science Contact: Lisa Storrie-Lombardi (lstorrie-lombardi@lco.global)
HS Foundation Media Contact: Jorge Cino (jcino@hsfoundation.org)
