| First Light: | 1996 |
The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) is an automated telescope used in the search for supernovae.
The telescope had a first light in 1998, and is a noted robotic telescope.[1] It had first recorded data in August 1996, and was formally dedicated late that year. It was used for the Lick Observatory Supernova Search.[2]
The KAIT is a computer-controlled reflecting telescope with a 76 cm mirror and a CCD camera to take pictures. It is located at the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California.
KAIT can take close to 100 images per hour and observe about 1000 galaxies a night.
The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope is a robotic telescope designed to look for supernova.[2] The telescope uses 76 cm (30 inch) diameter mirror that feeds a CCD imager with 20 slot filter wheel. The telescope is also supported by an electronic weather station, that can feed data to the robotic telescope control system.[2] Several computers run software that controls the telescope and take in the data from the sensors.[2]
The telescope's development was funded by the NSF at private donors since 1989, turning 30-inch (~760 mm) telescope in a computer controlled super nova huntress.[3] The telescope can also monitor the brightness of variable stars.
KAIT discovered its first supernova in 1997, SN 1997bs.[2] The next year (1998) twenty supernova were found after improvements to the telescope, and in 1999 forty supernova were discovered.[2]
The telescope has been noted for discovering the supernova SN 1999em.[4] This super nova was in the spiral galaxy NGC 1637, and was observed later by telescope such as the VLT (4x8.2m).
Another example of KAIT discovery was SN 1999ec, a type Ib supernova that was discovered in the interacting galaxy NGC 2207 on October 2, 1999.[5]
In 2011, KAIT was one of six telescopes used for the Lick AGN Monitoring Project.[6]
Between 1998 and 2013, KAIT had discovered 900 supernova.[7] In 2013, the supernova 2013ej was discovered by KAIT in the galaxy Messier 74; it was noted for being as bright as 10th magnitude.
In 2014, KAIT helped determine the age of a supernova found in the galaxy M83, because it had images of that region of the sky from just a few days prior to its discovery, establishing it had not brightened at that time.[8]
In 2016, KAIT spotted the super nova SN 2016coj in NGC 4125, thought to be a Type Ia supernova.[9]
In 2019, KAIT was one of the telescopes whose data was used in a study on Blazars.[10]
| Year[11] | Supernovae | Novae | Dwarf Novae | Comets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 40 | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 68 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 82 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 95 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 |