GOTO-S

GOTO-S is the southern site of the GOTO (Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer) telescope network, installed in 2023 at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.

About GOTO-S

Like its northern counterpart on La Palma, GOTO-S comprises two mounts of eight 0.4-metre telescopes each, 16 telescopes in total, each mount covering 44 square degrees for a combined 88 square degrees. The site is part of the same global GOTO network led by the University of Warwick.

History

The two telescope arrays at Siding Spring were constructed and installed in 2023, extending the GOTO project's reach into the southern hemisphere and completing the network's global footprint.

Telescopes & research

Because GOTO-S sits almost directly opposite the La Palma site on the globe, the pairing gives the network near-continuous, around-the-clock coverage of the sky, letting astronomers respond quickly to gravitational-wave alerts regardless of which hemisphere is in daylight. The network is now fully operational and hunts for the faint optical flashes that can accompany events such as neutron star mergers.

Location & getting there

Siding Spring Observatory sits in the Warrumbungle Range of New South Wales, Australia, a region recognised for its dark skies and home to several other major telescopes.

Visiting GOTO-S

Siding Spring Observatory has a visitor centre and hosts public astronomy programmes for some of its facilities; check the observatory's official channels for current information on visiting GOTO-S specifically.

See your named star from here

Between them, GOTO-N and GOTO-S can watch nearly the whole sky at once, a scale of coordinate-tracking that shows just how precisely astronomers can pin down a point among the stars. That same precision is what lets a named star's coordinates be found from Siding Spring or anywhere else with a clear sky. Name a star and explore its location in our catalogue.