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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

In the past decade, a new generation of automated telescopes for astronomical use has grown up around the world. The rapid progress in this field is evidenced by more than 20 robotic telescopes which are currently operational or under construction globally, and many more are planned.

The papers in this fully edited volume demonstrate that the era of remote observing using such state-of-the-art telescopes and increasingly sophisticated instrumentation is truly upon us. Its contents describe projects involving telescopes, ranging from the automatic through a progression of remotely-controlled instruments to the fully robotic, that are being developed worldwide.

The unique capabilities of robotic observatories for furthering various branches of frontline astronomical research and for fostering the public understanding of science are discussed, including both the hardware and software involved and the observational techniques utilised. This book presents a state-of-the-art account of robotic telescope systems and looks forward to projects such as global networks which will act as major tools in advancing our knowledge of the workings of the Universe.

(Extracted form the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Editor's Introduction. M.F. Bode.

-Part I: Robotic Observatories in Operation, Under Development and Planned.

-A Review of European Developments in Automated and Robotic Telescopes for Photometry. J.E.F. Baruch.
-A Progress Report on the Sutherland Automatic Telescope. D. Kilkenny.
-Developments in Automatising a Celestron-Based APT. R. Hudson, G. Hudson, E. Budding.
-The Development of a Robotic Telescope System at Bradford. J.E.F. Baruch.
-A Project for an Automated Telescope in Argentina. J.R. García, S.A. Domínguez, J. Campos.
-The Fastnet Observatory CCD APT System. E. Ansbro, H. van Bellingen.

-Part II: Observational Results.

-The Quest for Precision Robotic Photometry. G.W. Henry, D.S. Hall.
-The Law of Starpot Lifetimes. D.S. Hall, G.W. Henry.
-On-Going Studies of R CrB and UU Her Stars with Robotic Telescopes. J.D. Fernie.
-Corner Stars for Calibration of the Sky Survey Fields -Results from a Pilot Programme. P.W. Hill, P.O'Neill, B.M. Lasker.
-The Automatic 60-cm Telescope of the Belogradchik Observatory -First Results. A. Antov, R. Konstantinova-Antova.

-Part III: Robotic Telescope Networks.

-Some GNAT Issues. D.L. Crawford.
-A Complementary Network to GNAT: An Arabian and French Project for 3T1M Automated Photometric Stations. F.R. Querci, M. Querci, S. Kadiri, L. de Rancourt.
-Development of an Academic Network for Astronomical Use in Bulgaria. P. Delchev, M. Tsvetkov.
-Facilities for the Co-ordination of Multi-Site and Multi-Wavelength Observing Campaings. C.J. Butler, S.J. Magorrian.

-Part IV: Technology and Ideas.

-Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei. I.G. van Breda.
-The Concept of an APT Network as a Driver for a Metrological Reform in Astronomical Photometry. C. Sterken.
-How Accurate are Photometric Standards? T. Oja.
-Towards Robotic IR Observatories: Improved IR Passbands. E.F. Milone, C.R. Stagg, A.T. Young.
-Liquid Mirror Telescopes. E.F. Borra, R. Content, L. Girard.
-Parallelism in Telescope and Instruments Control Systems. I.G. van Breda.
-Editor's Summary. M.F. Bode.

-Appendix: List of Participants in the Kilkenny Workshop.

-Subject Index.

OUR REVIEW

A remarkable compilation of articles commenting on the current status of astronomy realized by means of robotic telescopes. Apparently, teleoperation of this kind of instruments is beginning to reach more and more important heights. And this should not be surprising, since the best telescopes are being installed on the highest peaks, in zones where human presence causes true difficulties. In essence, the controlling of such telescopes from research centers situated hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, lightens the load of supporting scientists in hostile areas, and it opens new ways for access to the instruments on the part of other organizations. Thus, it already is possible to allow conveniently guided students to develop observation programs from their own colleges, by using observatories situated in more appropriate places.

We are dealing with short, well constructed and well referenced contributions, whose readership will mainly consist of professional astronomers or advanced amateurs, as well as engineers and scholars interested in the designing, building and installing of this kind of telescopes as well as the necessary computers and software for their control.