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A Robotic Autonomous Observatory on the Moon
Adan Penguin1 and Eva Seal1,2
1
Department of Lunar Astronomy, University of Mare Serenitatis, Mare
Serenitatis 2750, The Moon
2
Department of Terrestrian Astronomy, University of Antartica, South Pole
9999, Antartica
The abstract should be self-contained and citation-free and should not exceed
150 words. We propose a robotic autonomous observatory on the Moon in order
to overcome the existing problems on Earth. Here we summarize the most recent
developments and ideas in the field.
1. Introduction
This section should be succinct, with no subheadings.
2. Robotic Observatories in Weird Places
This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. In this section, we give a very
brief overview of the instruments developed for weird places [1-3]. Others have been
mentioned elsewhere. The number of proposed Robotic Telescopes (RTs hereafter) for
being installed in the Solar System is:
N = r1p1 + r1p1 +…+ rNpN
(2.1)
where ri is the number of telescopes at a each planet pi .
2.1. First Approach: A robotic telescope in Antarctica
Antartica is Earth's southernmost continent, underlying the South Pole. It is situated in
the Antarctica region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic
Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km², it is the fifth-
largest continent in area, see Fig. 1. Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and
windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.
Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm along the
coast and far less inland. There are no permanent human residents but anywhere from
1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across
the continent. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins,
seals, mosses, lichen, and many types of algae. Therefore the installation of RTs is not
an easy task (see, e.g., [4]). See also the discussion by Darwin [5].
The Robotic Telescope (Subsubsection Heading)
Your text goes here.
The Primary Mirror (Paragraph Heading)
Your text goes here.
First Option: a Liquid Mirror (Subparagraph Heading). Your text goes here.
Figure 1: The font for this figure (Times New Roman) is 11 points size, unlike the rest of the
text which is Times New Roman 12 (i.e. 12 characters = 1/6 inch). The title is Times New
Roman 16. Antartica’s extension is larger than Europe.
3. A Robotic Observatory on the Moon
RTs on the Moon were first proposed in the late 20th Century. A lunar telescope would
be free from the atmospheric distortion that afflicts terrestrial telescopes of all kinds,
and from the self-generated winds that produce troublesome waves in the largest earth-
based instruments. The light from the universe's most distant stars is intensely redshifted, and the airless lunar deep-freeze would be ideal for infrared observation. See
Table 1.
Table 1. Table caption: Diverse options proposed.
Option
Diameter (m) Weight of structure (Tons)
Solid mirror
10
50
Liquid mirror
100
150
4. Conclusions
Installing a robotic observatory on the Moon could become a reality by 2030.
Ackowledgment
All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the paper before the
references and may include supporting grants, presentations, and so forth.
References
[1] A. Penguin, “Prospectives for a Robotic Observatory on the Moon”, Journal of
Science and Nature, vol. 15, no. 450, pp. 345-378, 2006.
[2] E. Seal, A. Student, B. Postdoc, et al., Robotic Telescopes in the Solar System, John
Wiley and Grandsons, Antartica, 2009.
[3] A. Visionary, “A robotic telescope in the Transnational Space Station”, Space
Station Reports, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 11-27, 2009.
[4] K. Moss, “Study of the Antartica soil for telescope placement”, submitted.
[5] C. Darwin, “Penguin support for the Antartica telescope project”, Science and
Evolution in Antartica. In press.