The Zadko Telescope: a fully robotic telescope for transient source and multi-messenger astronomy

David Coward

The Zadko Telescope is a fully robotized 1-m optical facility, operating in the Gravity Precinct, about 80 km north of Perth. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the history, recent significant upgrades to the infrastucture, and collaborative science. Presently, the system triggers automatically after receiving alerts from the Swift satellite (GRBs), and neutrino candidate alerts from the Antares neutrino telescope. An automated image processing system produces fully calibrated images downloadable from the internet. In addition, the system uses a dynamic prioritizing scheduling system, allowing several projects operating in the background - including a supernovae search, monitoring QSOs, photometry of slow rotating asteroids and others. I will also discuss, potentially new science opportunities that could be enabled by the facility in the near future.

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