The project Gloria (Global Robotic Intelligent Array for e-sience) has opened its first access to its 17 robotic telescopes: the Hubble Solar Open Disclosure (TADs), located at the Observatorio del Teide, the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute (IAC).
Thus, any user can operate from home with an Internet connection different telescopes on four continents, creating new experiments and follow live astronomical events like the aurora from Greenland or next total solar eclipse in Kenya.
Users only need to open an account on the network's website and make a reservation Gloria for robotic telescope teleoperate TADs. To do this, have the help of a manual and teaching resources that have different copyleft licenses, which allow free distribution of content.
Gloria is a citizen science project which aims to research in astronomy leveraging the collective intelligence of the community, explained the project manager at the IAC, Miguel Serra-Ricart.
To this end, it will give the opportunity to collaborate with all Internet, which can contribute to the calculation of solar activity by images of the solar surface (photosphere obtained with the telescope TADs and further analysis. "
In the immediate future, said Serra-Ricart, more experiments will be incorporated astronomical character and within topics, such as the detection and / or characterization of asteroids or NEOS, acronym for Near Earth Objects, near-Earth objects.
THIRTEEN MEMBERS OF EIGHT COUNTRIES
The initiative involves thirteen partners from eight different countries that have a total of 17 robotic telescopes with presence in four continents: Africa, Europe, Asia and America. Indeed, one of the objectives of Glory is the incorporation of other robotic telescopes belonging to individuals or public or private entities.
In this sense, the collaboration between Gloria and Cesar project, which aims to integrate four telescopes in the network for teaching that the European Space Agency (ESA) currently being installed in Spain through the ESAC, the European Centre Space Astronomy, located in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid.
Users can participate in the project Gloria also new telescopes connecting to the network, creating new experiments and participating in outreach astronomical.
One of the aims of the project is to create a network to share robotic telescopes and owners can share observation time from different locations. Moreover, we have developed a web tool that allows any participant to create their own experiments using network telescopes and associated instrumentation Gloria.
ACTIVITIES WITH CHILDREN
From Gloria also organized activities to spark interest in astronomy in the community, especially children. From the relay events are organized outreach activities especially schools.
"Periodically we move to those parts of the world where large astronomical events and conduct a live broadcast over the Internet, as in the case of the last total solar eclipse in Australia, the recent passage of the asteroid 2012-DA14, the next total solar eclipse in Kenya, through the beauty of the aurora in Greenland last August, "explains project coordinator and professor of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Francisco Sanchez.
Gloria is a three year project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union (FP7/2007-2012), with a total budget of 2.5 million euros. The project began in October 2011 and opened to the public network was scheduled to half of his life.
