The Weizmann Fast Astronomical Survey Telescope (W-FAST): System Overview
Gal-Yam, Avishay; Ofek, Eran O.; Yaron, Ofer; Polishook, David; Nir, Guy; Zackay, Barak; Ben-Ami, Sagi; Segev, Noam; Hershko, Ofir; Diner, Oz; Manulis, Ilan
Israel
Abstract
A relatively unexplored phase space of transients and stellar variability is that of second and sub-second timescales. We describe a new optical observatory operating in the Negev desert in Israel, with a 55 cm aperture, a field of view of 2°6 × 2°6 (≈7 deg2) equipped with a high frame rate, low read noise, CMOS camera. The system can observe at a frame rate of up to 90 HZ (full frame), while nominally observations are conducted at 10-25 Hz. The data, generated at a rate of over 6 Gbits s-1 at a frame rate of 25 Hz, are analyzed in real time. The observatory is fully robotic and capable of autonomously collecting data on a few thousand stars in each field each night. We present the system overview, performance metrics, science objectives, and some first results, e.g., the detection of a high rate of glints from geosynchronous satellites, reported in Nir et al. 2020.