Technicians from the University College Dublin in Ireland recently installed the Watcher robotic telescope at the University of the Free State's (UFS) Boyden Observatory.
The UFS Boyden Observatory was approached by the University College Dublin to accommodate the Watcher robotic telescope because of its good position for modern astronomical observations, its good infrastructure and because of Bloemfontein's cloudless nights
(especially in winter).
The telescope will mainly be used for observing the optical afterglow of gamma ray bursts (awe-inspiring explosions in the universe) and to search for exo planets (planets around other stars).
The work that will be done with Watcher will closely link to one of the research directions of the UFS astro physics group that is currently observing these phenomenon with the Boyden 1.5-m telescope.
The telescope will receive its instructions via the internet and is expected to be fully operational by November 2005.
At the Watcher robotic telescope are from left Mr Victor Litera, electronical technician from the University College Dublin in Ireland and Dr Matie Hoffman from the Physics Department at the UFS.