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Scheduling Telescope Observations for the European Southern Observatory (Short Paper)

Authors Michael Prümm , Peter Nightingale , Felix Ulrich-Oltean

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Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Theory of computation → Constraint and logic programming
  • Computing methodologies → Planning and scheduling
Keywords
  • Modelling
  • Constraint Programming
  • Scheduling
  • SAT
  • Global Constraints

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Abstract

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) provides state-of-the-art large telescope facilities at three sites in Chile, supported by 16 European member states. Astronomers submit proposals for sets of observations which are reviewed and ranked based on scientific merit, then a schedule is constructed respecting the ranking and aiming to make the fullest use of the various telescopes and numerous instruments. Currently a schedule covers six months, but in the near future ESO will switch to annual schedules. 
Here we examine the most challenging scheduling problem encountered by ESO: scheduling the operations of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) on Paranal, Chile. Tasks to be scheduled include observations performed by ESO staff, "visitor mode" periods where astronomers visit the site to use the telescopes, various maintenance tasks, and reconfiguration tasks taking multiple days. Typically a VLTI six-month schedule would contain approximately 450 activities. We explore global constraint models and a SAT encoding of the problem.

Cite As Get BibTex

Michael Prümm, Peter Nightingale, and Felix Ulrich-Oltean. Scheduling Telescope Observations for the European Southern Observatory (Short Paper). In 31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 340, pp. 43:1-43:10, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.43

Author Details

Michael Prümm
  • European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany
Peter Nightingale
  • Department of Computer Science, University of York, UK
Felix Ulrich-Oltean
  • Department of Computer Science, University of York, UK

Funding

  • Nightingale, Peter: EPSRC grant EP/W001977/1.
  • Ulrich-Oltean, Felix: EPSRC grant EP/W001977/1.

Supplementary Materials

References

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