Welcome to Skynet
Skynet is a global observing network for astronomical research, education, and automated observations. It connects observatories around the world so a heterogeneous fleet of optical and radio telescopes can be operated as a single, coordinated instrument.
These docs are organized for the three audiences who use Skynet most:
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Telescope Owners
Bring an observatory online, wire up devices through SkyNode, and run a queue.
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Observers
Submit observations, organize them into projects, and work with results.
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Developers
Authenticate to the public API, browse endpoints, and reference schemas.
What is Skynet?
Skynet provides seamless access to remote telescopes, enabling:
- Rapid response observations — capture transients like supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and exoplanet transits.
- Long-term monitoring — sustain campaigns on variable stars, AGN, and other periodic targets.
- Educational engagement — give students and researchers hands-on astrophotography and data analysis.
- Automated scheduling — allocate telescope time by scientific priority and resource availability.
How Skynet works
Skynet serves three overlapping roles — observers, observatory owners and managers, and consortiums — on a unified platform, while ensuring each observatory retains complete ownership and control of its telescopes.
- Observers define the science: request observations through the web app or API, and Skynet matches each request to telescopes capable of fulfilling it. Results are processed and delivered automatically.
- Observatory owners retain full authority over how their telescopes are used, who can access them, and when. SkyNode connects their hardware to the network without giving up local control.
- Consortiums let partner institutions pool telescope time and coordinate multi-observatory campaigns while each member retains ownership of its own facilities.
For the conceptual model behind the network, see The AILA standard.