Interoperability

RAPTOR/TALONS Gateway

We are currently running a prototype gatway service between the Los Alamos National Laboratories RAPTOR/TALONS network of telescopes and the eSTAR network. This gateway has now been operating in beta-test mode since shortly after the 1st HTN Workshop in Exeter in July 2005.

Meta-networks

An important distinction between eSTAR and previous work in this field is that there is no such thing as an eSTAR native telescope, even inside the network. The network itself serves as a meta-network, presenting a uniform interface to an already heterogeneous collection of telescopes and instrumentation. It can be argued that eSTAR could therefore effectively serve as a meta-network between the existing proprietary robotic telescope networks. By allowing eSTAR access to their telescope a facility does not give up control to the network. Scheduling and prioritising of observations are still done locally. A telescope facility can therefore allow access in stages; for incoming events only, for bi-directional events, or finally allowing full access.