Concept

The Global Jet Watch takes advantage of the rotation of the Earth to perform a novel investigation in time-domain astrophysics to study important black holes and other violent phenomena in our Galaxy, at the same time as engaging young people, especially girls, especially in developing countries, into science, engineering and technology.

Telescope

Technical Capabilities

At the heart of the Global Jet Watch is its beautiful research-grade telescopes. The light collected by these telescopes is directed to sophisticated instruments that reveal the dynamic interactions of interstellar events. Although much of our focus is within the Milky Way Galaxy, we can also peer beyond it, as 100% of the night sky is visible to the Global Jet Watch fleet of telescopes. Its key advantage is its longitudinal spread, enabling longitudinal-in-time astronomical investigations. All the Global Jet Watch’s telescopes and instrumentation are robotic and operated remotely, with state-of-the-art weather monitoring systems.

The Timeline of the Global Jet Watch

2012
  • The first Global Jet Watch spectrum is taken with a prototype of the Aquila spectrograph, seven weeks after instrument scientist Steven Lee commenced the design
2013
  • The first Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-OZ, begins spectroscopic operations in New South Wales, Australia
  • The Global Jet Watch begins its observations of Eta Carinae, a binary star system 7,500 light years away
  • The second Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-CL, begins spectroscopic operations in Chile
  • The third Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-IN, begins spectroscopic operations in India
2014
  • The fourth Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-SA, begins spectroscopic operations in South Africa
  • The fifth Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-WA, begins spectroscopic operations in Western Australia
2015
  • In collaboration with the ALMA observatory, the Global Jet Watch begins its joint observations of SS433, a microquasar-black hole binary star system
  • The Chilean observatory survives an 8.4 Magnitude Earthquake, and is back on sky within 25 hours
2016
  • Former technical specialist at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, Chris McCowage, joins the Global Jet Watch as Electronics Engineer
  • To combat difficulties in electricity infrastructure, GJW-IN is converted to run on solar power
  • The Global Jet Watch begins its observations of GG Carinae, a binary star system 8,000 light years away
2017
  • The Global Jet Watch begins its observations on SN1987a, a supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud - 168,000 light years away
  • Director Katherine Blundell appointed OBE by Her Majesty the Queen for services to astronomy and the education of young people
2018
  • Instrument and telescope pioneer Steve Lee robotizes the observatories, based on his extensive large telescope experience
  • The Global Jet Watch discovers a circumbinary ring - a disk of stellar matter - in a nova explosion 10,000 light years away
  • Deployment of the piggy-back camera systems begins at the Global Jet Watch observatories to provide augment spectroscopic data with imaging
2019
  • Instrument scientist Steven Lee designs a new arm for the Aquila spectrographs, extending their scientific range to full visual spectrum
  • Observatory Director Katherine Blundell, was appointed the 38th Gresham Professor of Astronomy
2020
  • The sixth Global Jet Watch observatory, GJW-OX, begins spectroscopic operations in the United Kingdom
  • The Global Jet Watch begins its observations on Comet Neowise, the brightest comet observed in the northern hemisphere in over two decades
2021
  • The Global Jet Watch observes a nova which leads to the discovery of nova-induced jets, previously only observed in black holes and newly collapsed stars
2022
  • The next-generation dual-beam spectrograph is installed at the GJW-OX observatory
  • The next-generation dual-beam spectrograph is installed at the GJW-OZ observatory
2023
  • GJW-SA is converted to run on solar power
  • The next-generation dual-beam spectrograph is installed at the GJW-IN observatory
  • The next-generation dual-beam spectrograph is installed at the GJW-SA observatory
  • Asteroid NEO-2023-DZ2 observed simultaneously from the GJW-SA and GJW-IN observatories as it skims past Earth

THE GLOBAL JET WATCH IN NUMBERS:

3000

Shortest Baseline between Observatories in Kilometers

100%

Sky Accessible to Global Jet Watch Observatories

11+

Terabytes of Data Collected

Making Things Work for Everyone

The Global Jet Watch’s telescopes are hosted in schools around the world, providing students with first-hand experience of scientific exploration, while inspiring a passion for physical science in the modern world. During servicing visits, the team provide talks on the science, engineering and technology that The Global Jet Watch is built on. The programme aims to unite the community in the collective pursuit for education and research.

Observatory in India

Video: Tour the India Observatory