A telescope control and scheduling system for the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer

Understand

The detection of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave signal in August 2017 marked the start of a new era of multi-messenger astrophysics.

• An unprecedented number of telescopes around the world were involved in hunting for the source of the signal, and although more gravitational-wave signals have been since detected, no further electromagnetic counterparts have been found.
• In this thesis, I present my work to help build a telescope dedicated to the hunt for these elusive sources: the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO).
• I detail the creation of the GOTO Telescope Control System, G-TeCS, which includes the software required to control multiple wide-field telescopes on a single robotic mount.