The Future of Small Telescopes in the New Millennium: 1: Perceptions, Productivities, and Policies2: The Telescopes We Use3: Science in the Shadows of Giants (Astrophysics and Space Science Library)

The motivation for these volumes is to provide a vision for the future of small telescopes. While this is an admirable task, ultimately I believe that­ as happens all the time in science - the prognostications will be overtaken by a rapidly changing scientific reality. As Virginia Trimble points out in chapter 1, the kinds of big questions that face us as astronomers today are rather different than the ones that drove the construction of astronomical facilities through much of the twentieth century. Right now, it appears that small telescopes will not have a lot of influence in answering those questions, though they will of course contribute enormously to the many issues discussed throughout the three volumes. Weare on the verge of opening a whole new parameter space that may revolutionize the way we think of small telescopes and their role in astronomy - the domain of the rapidly variable sky. While the LSST is the most prominent example, it is a long way in the future. Nemiroff & Rafert (chapter 2) consider the value of monitoring large parts of the sky on a continuous basis, using technology similar to a webcam. They have installed their CONCAM2 at four locations, including Kitt Peak. A related project, built and operated by the Harvard graduate student Gaspar Bakos - HAT-l (Hungarian Automated Telescope) - also is in operation at Kitt Peak. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv Small Telescopes in the New Millennium....Pages 1-5 The Decade Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics....Pages 7-11 Community Perceptions of the Relative Worth of Large and Small Telescopes....Pages 13-19 Funding of the Essential Synergy Between Small and Large Telescopes....Pages 21-39 Small Telescopes: A Reporter’s Perspective....Pages 41-48 Scientific Impact of Small Telescopes....Pages 49-53 The Productivity of Ground-Based Optical Telescopes of Various Apertures....Pages 55-64 The Future Operation of European Medium-Sized Telescopes: The Situation at Calar Alto Observatory....Pages 65-83 The Roles of Small Telescopes in a Virtual Observatory Environment....Pages 85-95 Developing a Protocol and Implementing a Network for Ubiquitous Use of Telescopes over the Internet: Remote Telescope Mark-up Language — RTML....Pages 97-112 Small Telescopes in Astronomy Education....Pages 113-123 Big Glass on a Silicon Chip: The CLEA Project in the 21 st Century....Pages 125-138 The International Small Telescope Cooperative (ISTeC)....Pages 139-145 Development, Construction and Plans for Small Telescopes in Japan....Pages 147-165 Simultaneous and Parallel Use of Small Telescopes for Astronomical Photometry....Pages 167-173 International Aspects Between Central Europe and Central Asia....Pages 175-187 GNAT—A Global Network of Small Astronomical Telescopes....Pages 189-200 The International Perspective: From Small Astronomical Telescopes to the World Space Observatory....Pages 201-225 Important Roles of Small Telescopes in Space....Pages 227-237 Telescope Performance: Past, Present, and Future....Pages 239-256 The Potential of CCD-Based Amateur Spectroscopy....Pages 257-269 Small Radio Telescopes....Pages 271-285 Charting the Future of Small Telescopes....Pages 287-300 Small is as Small Does....Pages 301-322 The Future of Small, Inexpensive, Continuously Operating, Wide Field Cameras....Pages 323-335 The All Sky Automated Survey....Pages 337-347 The Carlsberg Meridian Telescope....Pages 349-361 Astrometric Projects at the Bordeaux CCD Meridian Circle....Pages 363-366 The USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC) Project and Beyond....Pages 367-374 The Future of Automated Telescopes and the Bradford Robotic Telescopes....Pages 375-390 The Liverpool and Faulkes Telescopes....Pages 391-410 The Dutch Open Telescope....Pages 411-420 Building a Global Education and Science System Basec on Modest-Aperture Telescopes: The Hands-On Universe System....Pages 421-426 The OTHER Keck Observatories....Pages 427-436 The Sun from Big Bear....Pages 437-454 The Four-College Consortium and the Future of APT’s....Pages 455-479 The National Undergraduate Research Observatory....Pages 481-487 Advantages of Automated Observing with Small Telescopes....Pages 489-507 Astronomy Back East: The Future of the University Telescope....Pages 509-518 Research in a Virtual Astronomy Department....Pages 519-530 The CHARA VisiblelIR Array on Mt. Wilson....Pages 531-554 A Dedicated 1-Meter Telescope for High Precision Astrometric Sky Mapping of Faint Stars....Pages 555-567 AST/RO....Pages 569-584 The APO 3.5-m Remote Observing Program— Present and Future....Pages 585-597 Scientific Priorities and Scheduling of the UK Infrared Telescope in the Eight-Meter Era....Pages 599-608 Small Radio Interferometer Arrays in Solar Physics....Pages 609-622 The Educational Role of Small Telescopes in Radio Astronomy....Pages 623-636 Reflections on Past and Future Photometric Calibration Situations and the Role of Small Telescopes....Pages 637-645 Science of the Inner Planets From Small Ground-Based Telescopes....Pages 647-671 Planetary Astronomy: Recent Advances and Future Discoveries With Small Aperture Telescopes....Pages 673-691 Science With Very Small Telescopes (< 2.4 meters): The NASA Deep Impact Mission’s Small Telescope Science Program....Pages 693-711 Geographical Representation of Large and Small Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Discoveries and Observations....Pages 713-728 Finding High Priority Projects for Stellar Physics Through Spectroscopy....Pages 729-745 The NStars Project and Small Telescopes....Pages 747-757 Speckle Interferometry with Small Telescopes....Pages 759-774 “Visual” Binaries in the Twenty-First Century....Pages 775-789 Imaging Exoplanets....Pages 791-807 The Detection of Extrasolar Planets via the Transit Method....Pages 809-823 Big Planets with Small Telescopes....Pages 825-841 Variable Star Research with Small Telescopes....Pages 843-859 Magnetic Activity and the Solar-Stellar Connection....Pages 861-879 The Whole Earth Telescope: International Adventures in Asteroseisomology....Pages 881-892 WIYN Open Cluster Study: The Next Generation....Pages 893-908 Automated Spectral Surveys of Clusters and Field Star....Pages 909-916 Monitoring Extremely Young Clusters: Past, Present and Future....Pages 917-930 Searches for Galactic Halo Remnants....Pages 931-938 Gravitational Microlensing....Pages 939-949 Dynamics, Star Formation and Chemical Evolution in the Nearby Galaxies from Studies of Their Stellar Systems....Pages 951-965 The Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System....Pages 967-978 The Importance of Small Telescopes to Cosmological Research....Pages 979-990 Back Matter....Pages 991-1031 This three-volume set, The Future of Small Telescopes in the New Millennium details the essential roles that small telescopes should play in 21st century science and how their future productivity can be maximized. Over 70 experts from all corners of the international astronomical community have created a definitive reference on the present and future of "big science with small telescopes". Despite highly publicized closures of telescopes smaller than 4-m in aperture at national facilities and their omission from national science priority studies, the oft-lamented demise of the small telescope has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the future of these workhorses of astronomy will be brighter than ever if creative steps are taken now. This three-volume set defines essential roles that small telescopes should play in 21st century science and the ways in which a productive future for them can be realized. A wide cross-section of the astronomical community has contributed to a definitive assessment of the present and a vision for the future.

This three-volume set details the essential roles that small telescopes should play in 21st century science and how their future productivity can be maximized. Over 70 international experts have created a definitive reference on the present and future of "big science with small telescopes".