The eSTAR project was a

multi-agent system A multi-agent system (MAS or "self-organized system") is a computerized system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents.Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Jang, I.; Arvin, F.; Lanzon, A.,A Decentralized Cluster Formation Containment Framework fo ...

that aimed to implement a heterogeneous network of

robotic telescope A robotic telescope is an astronomical telescope and detector system that makes observations without the intervention of a human. In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as robotic if it makes those observations without being operated ...

s for automated observing, and ground-based follow-up to transient events. The project is a joint collaboration between the Astrophysics Group of the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

and the Astrophysics Research Institute at

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

. The project was led by Alasdair Allan and Tim Naylor at the University of Exeter, and Iain Steele at Liverpool John Moores University. The eSTAR Project was affiliated with the

RoboNet RoboNet-1.0 was a prototype global network of UK-built 2-metre robotic telescopes, the largest of their kind in the world, comprising the Liverpool Telescope on La Palma (Canary Islands), the Faulkes Telescope North on Maui (Hawaii), and the Faulk ...

Consortium, and the global Heterogeneous Telescope Networks Consortium. Begun in 2001, the project was part of the virtual observatory. By 2006 the project was running autonomous

software agent In computer science, a software agent or software AI is a computer program that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency, which derives from the Latin ''agere'' (to do): an agreement to act on one's behalf. Such "action on behal ...

for observations of

variable stars A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

implementing the optimal sampling techniques of Saunders et al. (2006), and the prototype was successfully tested on the RoboNet network of telescopes which includes: the

Liverpool Telescope The Liverpool Telescope (LT) is a two-metre-aperture robotic Ritchey–Chrétien telescope that observes autonomously (without human intervention). However professional astronomers, school groups and other credible registered users submit speci ...

, the

Faulkes Telescope North The Faulkes Telescope North is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope, and is located at Haleakala Observatory in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is a f/10 Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. The telescope is owned and operated by LCOGT. This telescope and ...

and the

Faulkes Telescope South The Faulkes Telescope South is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope and is located at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. It is a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. It was designed to be operated remotely with the aim of encourag ...

. By 2007 the eSTAR Project was "live" supporting two real-time observing projects. The first was automated follow-up observations of

gamma-ray burst In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten milli ...

s performed using the 3.8m

United Kingdom Infrared Telescope The United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT) is a 3.8 metre (150 inch) infrared reflecting telescope, the second largest dedicated infrared (1 to 30 micrometres) telescope in the world. It is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i as part of Mauna ...

(UKIRT) operated by

Joint Astronomy Centre The Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC) was a management organisation based in Hilo, Hawaii, which from c.1980-2015 operated two large telescopes at Mauna Kea Observatory on behalf of an international consortium from the United Kingdom, Canada and the N ...

in Hawaii (JACH). The first ground based observations of

GRB 090423 GRB 090423 was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission on April 23, 2009 at 07:55:19 UTC whose afterglow was detected in the infrared and enabled astronomers to determine that its redshift is ''z'' = 8.2, ...

were triggered via the eSTAR Project, with initial observations by the

Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, previously called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, is a NASA three-telescope space observatory for studying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and monitoring the afterglow in X-ray, and UV/Visible light at the location o ...

automatically followed by UKIRT just a few minutes after the initial observation by the SWIFT satellite. The observations autonomously triggered by the eSTAR software were reported in Tanvir et al. This gamma-ray burst was, at the time of discovery, the most distant object then known in the Universe. The second project was the search for

extra-solar planets An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

by placing observations on the

system of telescopes on behalf of the

PLANET A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

collaboration. The technique of

gravitational microlensing Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon due to the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects that range from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit. Typically, astronomers ...

is used to monitor large numbers of stars in the galactic bulge looking for the tell-tale signature of cool planets orbiting those stars. The project also operated the heaviest used of the initial generation of Virtual Observatory

VOEvent VOEvent is a standardized language used to report observations of Astronomy, astronomical events; it was officially adopted in 2006 by the IVOA, International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). Though most VOEvent messages currently issued are rel ...

brokers, exposing its real-time alert system to other collaborators, like the TALONS Project. In 2009 the project lost funding and was shuttered.

References

{{Reflist Observational astronomy Applications of artificial intelligence University of Exeter Liverpool John Moores University Robotic telescopes Multi-agent systems 2006 robots Robots of the United Kingdom