[Previous] | [Session 87] | [Next]
C. D. Bailyn (Dept. of Astronomy, Yale University), D. Depoy (Dept. of Astronomy, Ohio State University), R. Agostinho (Observatorio Astronomico de Lisboa), R. Mendez, J. Espinoza, D. Gonzalez (Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory)
We report on the first year of operation of the YALO consortium (Yale, AURA, Lisbon, Ohio). YALO operates the Yale 1m telescope located at Cerro Tololo. All observations at YALO are obtained using a two-channel camera built expressly for the telescope. This instrument is capable of simultaneous imaging in one optical (UBVRI) and one near-infrared (JHK) bandpass. Two on-site observers (JE and DG) obtain the observations. Programs are assembled on a daily basis by a queue manager from one of the participating institutions, and e-mailed to the mountain. The constant availability of IR and optical imaging, combined with flexible daily queue management, make this facility ideal for long-term monitoring projects, and for responding to transient events. Observers from the community have access to this facility through NOAO.
During the first year of operations, a wide variety of programs were carried out, with particular emphasis on monitoring programs for supernovae, X-ray binaries, and MACHO events. We briefly describe the performance of the telescope and camera, comment on the achievements and difficulties of our observational strategy, and present some selected scientific results which demonstrate the utility of the overall system.