GLORIA stands for "GLObal Robotic-telescopes Intelligent Array" and will be the first free and open access network of robotic telescopes in the world. It will be a Web 2.0 environment where users can do research in astronomy by observing with robotic telescopes, and/or by analysing data that other users have acquired with GLORIA.
The user community (consisting of amateurs, citizen scientists, school children, students and professionals) will not only generate content, but will also be able to control telescopes around the world, either directly, in ‘teleoperation’ mode, or via scheduled observations. The community will also make decisions about the network behaviour and priorities, that will give "intelligence" to GLORIA, while the drudge work (such as creating telescope schedules to satisfy various constraints) will be done by algorithms developed for the purpose.
The project is being funded by the EU-FP7 and I will present an overview of our progress to date in bringing the network into operation.
The Lecture will be held in the Bell Theatre, Queens University Belfast at 7:30pm on Wednesday 6th February. All are welcome.