Tse Sui Luen Infrared Telescope (TSL-IR1) a Dual Channel Optical/Infrared Robotic Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory

The Tse Sui Luen Infrared Telescope (TSL-IR1) is a CDK400 Planewave (17-inch aperture L-500 direct drive mount) robotic telescope custom-designed for simultaneous observation in two instrumentation channels: one in the optical and one in the near-infrared. The telescope uses a single arm fork mount on an equatorial wedge to allow uninterrupted image sequences while tracking through the meridian. The mirror and lenses are optimized for consistent performance across a wide wavelength range. A long-pass dichroic separates the optical and infrared into an off- and on- axis channel, respectively, with a long-pass wavelength of ~0.93 microns. The optical arm (ZWO ASI294MM) is sensitive from 0.38 to 0.92 microns with a 22 arcmin by 15 arcmin field-of-view at 0.33 arcsec resolution and the infrared arm (Princeton Instruments SciCam1280) is sensitive from 0.93 to 1.68 microns at 0.84 arcsec resolution with a 18 arcmin by 14 arcmin field-of-view. The two channels have a common field and, thus, the optical images can be used to perform astrometric alignment of the infrared field that will be sensitive to stars several magnitudes brighter than the 2MASS individual read saturation limit. The TSL-IR1 joins a set of fully robotic telescopes in a roll-off shed with their own cloud camera and weather station. The system is optimized to produce precise time-series observations of bright stars with limited human intervention and, using mostly off-the-shelf components, is of overall modest total cost. Expected to go into full operations in 2023, this poster will describe the design elements of the telescope, show some test data with the SciCam1280, and describe some science drivers.