Abstract
| “Accurate photometry with a robotic telescope would greatly aid in
the discovery and subsequent detailed investigation of astrophysical
phenomena from white dwarfs and cataclysmic variables to bright
quasars” (Bode, 1995). The advantages offered by automation for stellar
photometry are especially applicable to the study of variable stars
(Schmidt, 1992). This Chapter aims to show (i) why automated data
reduction is becoming not only desirable, but also a necessity of modern
telescopes. In a typical night a robotic telescope may take several
hundred frames, and it is “beneficial to process some of them on-line”
(Treffers et al., 1992). However the effort put into creating better and
more efficient data collection instruments far outweighs research in the
area of automated reduction. And (ii) what standard steps are necessary
in the process of data reduction. |
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ’Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
William Shakespeare-Julius Caesar Act III, Scene I
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