Korea Astronomy Observatory (KAO) is working to rebuild a 1.0-m robotic telescope in collaboration with a company (Astronomical Consultants & Equipment, Inc. or ACE). The telescope is being totally refurbished to make a fully automatic telescope which can operate in both interactive an fully autonomous robotic modes. This paper describes the design concepts and the work completed. The telescope is an f/7.5 Ritchey-Chretien system mounted on an equatorial fork with friction drives capable of high slewing (5°/s2) and high resolution tracking. The control software manages the entire telescope, instruments and observatory. In interactive local and remote modes the observer can manually enter coordinates or retrieve them from a database. In robotic mode the telescope controller downloads requests from users and creates a schedule. The telescope will be equipped with a CCD camera and will be available over the internet.

We describe ACE FlexGrid, a telescope flexure and pointing model based on an empirical grid of reference points. This software is valid for all types of telescopes and is especially suited to robotic telescopes which repeatedly observe the same object.

The Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph (FIMS) is a small spectrograph optimized for the observations of diffuse hot interstellar medium in far-ultraviolet wavebands (900–1150Å and 1335–1750Å). The instrument is expected to be sensitive to emission line fluxes an order of magnitude fainter than any previous missions. FIMS is currently under development and is scheduled for launch in 2002.

We are developing a robust Multi-CCD control system for wide-field surveys of various kinds. Our design concept and possible application modes are introduced.

A unique telescope dedicated to spectroscopy is discussed. This instrument, the Multiple Telescope Telescope, uses many novel approaches to achieve high quality, medium to high resolution spectroscopy at low cost.

The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at Lick Observatory is a fully robotic 0.76-m reflector equipped with a CCD imaging camera. Its telescope control system checks the weather, opens the dome, points to the desired objects, finds and acquires guide stars, exposes, stores the data, and manipulates the data without human intervention. There is a 20-slot filter wheel, including UBV RI. Five-minute guided exposures yield detections of stars at R ≈ 20 mag when the seeing is good (≤2″).

One of our main goals is to discover nearby supernovae (SNe; redshifts generally less than 5000 km s−1), to be used for a variety of studies. Special emphasis is placed on finding them well before maximum brightness. A limit of ~ 19 mag is reached in the 25-sec unfiltered, unguided exposures of our Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS). We can observe over 1200 galaxies in a long night, and we try to cycle back to the same galaxies after 3 to 4 nights. Our software automatically subtracts template images from new observations and identifies supernova candidates that are subsequently examined by student research assistants. LOSS found 20 SNe in 1998, 40 in 1999, and 36 in 2000, making KAIT the world’s most successful search engine for nearby SNe. We also find novae in the Local Group, comets, asteroids, and cataclysmic variables. Multifilter follow-up photometry is conducted of the most important SNe, and all objects are monitored in unfiltered mode. A Web page describing LOSS is at http://astro.berkeley.edu/~bait/kait.html.

We present here the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Supernova Survey (BAOSS). The motivation and the strategy of the survey are briefly discussed, and the hardware and the software of the system are described. BAOSS started in 1996 and has discovered 40 supernovae (SNe) in four years, thus playing an important role in the search for nearby supernovae. The results of several well-observed SNe discovered by BAOSS, SNe 1996W, 1996cb, 1997br, and 1998S, are reported.

A remotely-controlled observing station, the Kenting Observatory, has been established in the Kenting National Park, at the southern tip of Taiwan. There are four observing systems at the Observatory: (1) a Meade 16-inch reflector with an SBIG spectrograph plus an SBIG STV; (2) an RC-16inch reflector with an FLI CCD; (3) a Celestron 14-inch with an ST-7E CCD; and (4) a Binocular system of two Canon F1.8 telephoto lens with two FLI CCDs. One of the scientific tasks of this observatory is to provide fast response to satellite alerts in the hopes of identifying the optical counterparts of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) via the global effort of GRB Coordinated Network (GCN). In this conference proceedings, we describe the instruments and the science projects being carried out in the Observatory.

The High Energy Transient Explorer 2 is a small scientific satellite designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The coordinates of GRBs detected by HETE-2 will be distributed to interested ground-based observers within seconds of burst detection, thereby allowing detailed observations of the initial phases of GRBs. HETE-2 was launched successfully on October 9, 2000. The GRB positions will start to be delivered after a few months of the complete testing and calibration of the spacecraft system and the science instruments.

We are constructing a fully automatic observation system named RIBOTS (RIken-Bisei Optical Transient Seeker). We aim to detect optical flashes and early afterglows of Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with RIBOTS. We are constructing RIBOTS with a small telescope because a quick pointing to the burst is essential for our purpose. RIBOTS is linked to the GRB alert system provided by the HETE-2 satellite.

We are developing a new slit-less spectrograph for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at Bisei Astronomical Observatory. We can quickly point the 1-m telescope to the GRB coordinates provided by HETE-2 via the GRB Coordinates Network. The pointing is readjusted when the position is refined to 5” accuracy by the small optical telescope RIBOTS using the optical image of the GRB, and we then take an exposure immediately with the slit-less spectrograph.

A brief review of the nature and subtypes of cataclysmic variables (CVs) is given. The catalogue of CVs is still very incomplete. All-sky surveys should add large numbers of CVs, which will improve knowledge of the space density of these systems. It is pointed out that the nova-like variables, which are the most difficult to discover, are the subtype having the highest space density. Their discovery is therefore the highest priority – they fix the frequency of CVs, which is important in population syntheses of binary stars.

Symbiotic stars are long-period interacting binary systems in which an evolved red giant star transfers material to its much hotter compact companion. Such a composition places them among the most variable stars. In addition to periodic variations due to the binary motion, they often show irregular changes due to nova-like eruptions of the hot component. In some systems the cool giant is a pulsating Mira-type star usually surrounded by a variable dust shell. Here, I present results of optical and IR monitoring of symbiotic systems as well as future prospects for such studies.

A brief history of photometric monitoring of T Tauri stars with a 0.6 m telescope at Wesleyan University is given. This is followed by discussion of three recent results: 1) the mass dependence of stellar rotation rates in the Orion Nebula Cluster, 2) a check on stellar radii estimates of pre-main sequence stars, and 3) the nature of a very peculiar object in NGC 2264.

The rapidly oscillating Ap stars are magnetic peculiar A stars which pulsate in multiple p modes with periods in the range of about 6 to 16 minutes with their oscillation axes aligned with the oblique magnetic axes of the stars. Some of these stars have the richest frequency spectra of any non-degenerate stars other than the sun. This paper shows how photometric observations using small telescopes can be used to work on several astrophysically interesting problems posed by these stars. An example of high precision photometry is shown. The proof of oblique dipole pulsation, the distortion of pulsation modes (probably by the magnetic field), and the determination of asteroseismic luminosities are all discussed. The latter, especially when combined with new theoretical developments concerning magnetic field-pulsation interaction, suggests that Ap stars have lower effective temperatures and/or smaller radii than has been previously thought. It is pointed out that this may be related to the recently discovered extreme discrepancy in effective temperature determined from the wings and cores of the Hα line.

A correlation spectrometer has been used for 15 years by Moscow observers for different programs at several small telescopes and has proven itself to be very effective. Here we present some of the results in the field of Cepheid studies acquired with the spectrometer.

Previously, flare stars have been observed by fast two channel photoelectric photometry. We have started an observing program to monitor flare stars using a normal CCD camera via a method called “trailed mode photometry”. For this program, we developed a fully automated trail photometry software.

We present observational results of four eclipsing binary stars, Y Cam, RZ Cas, AS Eri and RU UMi, which were reported to have δ Scuti type pulsating components.

We studied 147 long-period red variable stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the MOA database. Amongst them, seven red luminous stars are likely pulsating in a higher mode.

An accretion intrigued flare-like brightening of DF Tau has been recorded spectroscopically, during which spectacular spectral changes took place. We inferred the possible formation of a transient envelope during the process of this episodic mass accretion of DF Tau.