Controlling Telescope Observations from the European Astronomer's
Own Desk: The Case of TNG

A.Balestra, F.Pasian, M.Pucillo*, P.Santin, C.Vuerli

Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste
Trieste - Italy


Top-level ground observing facilities for astronomy are located in isolated sites, where atmosphere and light pollution conditions are the best possible. Normally, astronomers travel to such observing sites; recently, the concept of allowing remote observing from secondary control centers has become a reality. The availability throughout Europe of bandwidth-on-demand net working services, and the construction of new telescopes having integrated control systems, allow at least conceptually to perform observations from the user's own desk.

Teleoperation of telescopes is one of the topics of a project submitted to the European Union for funding: the aim is to monitor and control remotely, using a common system and standard ISDN services, two different telescopes located on the Canary Islands. One of these telescopes is the Italian TNG, which is discussed here as a test case. TNG has been designed, and is being implemented, with remote control as an essential requirement.