| layout | page |
|---|---|
| title | Observatory Control System |
| subtitle | Open source software for an API-driven observatory |
With the field of astronomy undergoing a revolution in data volume and automation, many observatories around the world are beginning to update their systems to take advantage of modern web technologies. However, producing a fully-featured and maintainable Observatory Control System (OCS) is an expensive undertaking! Las Cumbres Observatory successfully operates a network of 20+ robotic telescopes around the world, driven entirely by APIs. The software that enables this has been bundled up and open-sourced, the goal of which is to increase the rate of adoption of APIs in astronomical observing and to share the knowledge gained in the process of building the software so that the entire community benefits.
Astronomers can:
- Submit requests to observe a target, track the states of those requests, and cancel requests if their needs have changed
- Be notified once their observation is complete
- Download their science data
Observatories can:
- Automatically update the observing schedule for a telescope when a new request is submitted
- Upload science data
- Update the states of requests to keep users in the loop and to keep track of what still needs to be done
- Manage users who are able to submit requests
Since these actions are all backed by APIs, they can be triggered programmatically and can easily be incorported into other web interfaces and software systems.
See the [Components]({% link components/index.md %}) section for more information about the different components of the OCS, and the [Getting Started]({% link getting_started.md %}) guide for details on how to begin using it.
You can reach out to us at ocs@lco.global.
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The Open Source Observatory Control System Project is managed by Las Cumbres Observatory, with generous financial support from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
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