A Heterogeneous Telescope NetworkAlasdair Allan

Tim Naylor

Eric SaundersUniversity of Exeter

Iain Steele

Chris MottramLiverpool John Moores University

Tim Jenness

Frossie Economou

Brad Cavanagh

Andy AdamsonJoint Astronomy Centre, Hawaii

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The eSTAR concept

Three fundamental ideas behind the project which makes it unique:

• Treat telescopes and databases in a similar manner, both being made available on the Observational Grid

• The main user of the Grid and the Virtual Observatories should not be humans, but autonomous intelligent software agents

• These software agents are reactive, examining the results of observations, and then scheduling follow up observations based on their analysis of the existing data

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What is an agent anyway?

• An agent is “just software” not magic

Loosely, an agent is a computational entity which:

• Acts on behalf of another entity in an autonomous fashion• Performs its actions with some level of proactivity and/or

responsiveness• Exhibits some level of the key attributes of learning, co-

operation and mobility

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How far we’ve come…

First talked about eSTAR at NAM in

2002, since then…

• Established small prototype network using “off the shelf” telescopes

• Deployed the system onto UKIRT in Hawaii for GRB follow up

• Research into grid markets and agent technologies

• Research into Adaptive Dataset Planning (ADP)

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eSTAR and UKIRT

• All aspects of an observation programme at the JAC are either software readable or software controllable

• To the agent its irrelevant that’s there is a human in the loop

• Agents now being deployed to carry out GRB follow-up

© Nik Szymanek

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eSTAR and ADP

• Traditional variable star observing is strongly time constrained

• Aliasing problems dominate, inefficient and expensive

Adaptive dataset planning is about,

• Finding the ideal observing pattern for a given period range…

• …and if we have an existing dataset, deciding when we should best observe

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The short term plan…

We have an exciting time ahead:

• Deploy eSTAR onto Robonet-1.0 to allow it to carry out observations using adaptive dataset planning and do micro-lensing work this summer [MAY]

• Finish work on the WFCAM/eSTAR Transient Object Detection Agent in collaboration with the JAC [JULY]

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eSTAR and Robonet-1.0

• Searching for extra-Solar planets using gravitational microlensing in the galactic bulge

• Real time GRB follow-up using the same agent software as UKIRT

• Consortium “open” time, a testbed for our adaptive dataset planning work

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The eSTAR network

© Nik Szymanek

UKIRT @ JAC

User Agents

The Grid

Embedded Agent

Robonet-1.0

Embedded Agent

OGLE Alert

Alert Agent

GCN Alert

Alert Agent

Alert Agent

WFCAM

The VO

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In the longer term…

• Adding more telescopes, means the network becomes heterogeneous. Does that mean more complexity?

• What about the existing proprietary networks?

• Need to establish interoperability between the existing networks. Standards based, using RTML (and VOEvent for notification?)

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The eSTAR meta-network

User Agents

The GridBrokerService

ProprietaryTelescope Network

Ale

rts

Alert Agent

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A Grid Market

User Agents

The Grid Grid Market

BrokerService

ProprietaryTelescope Network

BrokerService

ProprietaryTelescope Network

The VirtualObservatory

BrokerService

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Other telescope networks

eSTAR• JAC Hawaii ( www.jach.hawaii.edu )• Robonet-1.0 ( www.astro.livjm.ac.uk/RoboNet/ )

Collaborators• RAPTOR ( www.raptor.lanl.gov )• SGM & SMARTS ( aaaprod.gsfc.nasa.gov/SGM/ )• MONET ( www.uni-sw.gwdg.de/~hessman/MONET/ )• SuperWASP ( www.superwasp.org )

Others• REX ( star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~kdh1/rex/rex.html )• ASTRA ( citadel.edu/physics/astra/ )• STELLA ( www.aip.de/stella/ )

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Other agent based projects

• The Thinking Telescope System (Los Alamos) www.thinkingtelescopes.lanl.gov

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The HTN WorkshopJuly 18 -21 2005

Aims• Interoperability between robotic

telescope networks• Interoperability with the Virtual

Observatory (VO) for event notification

• Establishment of an e-market for the exchange of telescope time

See htn-workshop2005.ex.ac.uk

Science Goal Monitor

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Summary

• One way to hide differences is by adding brokering layers to a system, this works just as well for the VO as it does for the telescope networks I’ve described.

• The addition of a Grid Market allows heterogeneous proprietary resources to be bartered

• For more information about the eSTAR Project see our website www.estar.org.uk

• For more information about the upcoming HTN Workshop in Exeter this July see the conference website htn-workshop2005.ex.ac.uk