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Collective intelligence projects based on citizen participation are gaining momentum in today’s society. Citizen science applies crowdsourcing techniques to produce reliable data, quickly and easily. These projects allow getting new knowledge and help professional scientists to come to real conclusions. This paper proposes that the use of reputation systems improves the results obtained in citizen science projects. To prove this hypothesis, a reputation system is applied to a real experiment and the results are analyzed. The goal of the experiment is to calculate the real-time solar activity, known as the Wolf number, using the infrastructure and user community of the GLORIA project (a set of professional robotic telescopes running since 2013). The sample size of the study are 196 end-users and 2,108 executions of the experiment. The key findings presented in the paper are: 1) the online experiment with volunteers correctly reproduces the traditional method of the year 1848 performed by astronomers or advanced amateurs, 2) the model is contrasted and validated with the values published by the official organization, and 3) the reputation system reduces the error in calculations by more than half, discarding the contributions of the users with lowest karma.

2MASS J20395358+4222505 is an obscured early B supergiant near the massive OB star association Cygnus OB2. Despite its bright infrared magnitude (Ks = 5.82) it has remained largely ignored because of its dim optical magnitude (B = 16.63, V = 13.68). In a previous paper, we classified it as a highly reddened, potentially extremely luminous, early B-type supergiant. We obtained its spectrum in the U, B and R spectral bands during commissioning observations with the instrument MEGARA at the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. It displays a particularly strong Hα emission for its spectral type, B1 Ia. The star seems to be in an intermediate phase between supergiant and hypergiant, a group that it will probably join in the near (astronomical) future. We observe a radial velocity difference between individual observations and determine the stellar parameters, obtaining Teff = 24 000 K and log gc = 2.88 ± 0.15. The rotational velocity found is large for a B supergiant, v sin i = 110 ± 25 kms−1⁠. The abundance pattern is consistent with solar, with a mild C underabundance (based on a single line). Assuming that J20395358+4222505 is at the distance of Cyg OB2, we derive the radius from infrared photometry, finding R = 41.2 ± 4.0 R⊙, log(L/L⊙) = 5.71 ± 0.04 and a spectroscopic mass of 46.5 ± 15.0 M⊙. The clumped mass-loss rate (clumping factor 10) is very high for the spectral type, M˙ = 2.4 × 10−6 M⊙ a−1. The high rotational velocity and mass-loss rate place the star at the hot side of the bi-stability jump. Together with the nearly solar CNO abundance pattern, they may also point to evolution in a binary system, J20395358+4222505 being the initial secondary. © 2022 The Author(s)., SS-D and AH acknowledge support from the Spanish Government Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through grants PGC-2018-091 3741-B-C22 and CEX2019-000920-S and from the Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI), of the Canary Islands Government, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under grant with reference ProID2020010016. MG and FN acknowledge financial support through Spanish grant PID2019-105552RB-C41 (MINECO/MCIU/AEI/FEDER) and from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through the Unidad de Excelencia ‘María de Maeztu’-Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA) project No. MDM-2017-0737. SRB acknowledges support by the Spanish Government under grants AYA2015-68012-C2-2-P and PGC2018-093741-B-C21/C22 (MICIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). SRA acknowledges funding support from the FONDECYT Iniciación project 11171025 and the FONDECYT Regular project 1201490. JIP acknowledges finantial support from projects Estallidos6 AYA2016-79724-C4 (Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad), Estallidos7 PID2019-107408GB-C44 (Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion), grant P18-FR-2664 (Junta de Andalucía), and grant SEV-2017-0709 ‘Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa Program’ (Spanish Science Ministry). AGP, SP, AG-M, JG and NC acknowledge support from the Spanish MCI through project RTI2018-096188-B-I00.

Context. This paper aims to determine the capabilities of the MEGARA spectrograph at the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), which is an optical integral-field unit, for studying stellar populations. We also aim to exploit its combination of high spectral (R ∼ 6000, 12 000 and 20 000) and spatial (0.62″) resolution within its 12″.5 × 11″.3 field of view. We do this by analysing the commissioning data of the nearby S0a galaxy NGC 7025. Aims. We establish a systematic method through which we can determine the properties of the stellar populations in the observations made with MEGARA, more specifically, within the MEGADES legacy project. For this paper in particular, we determine the properties of the stellar populations of NGC 7025. Methods. We used MEGARA observations of galaxy NGC 7025 that were taken during the commissioning phase of the instrument. We applied different approaches to estimate the properties of the stellar populations with the highest possible certainty. In addition to the specific study of NGC 7025 and in the context of the MEGADES survey, we have carried out a number of tests to determine the expected errors (including potential biases) in these star formation history (SFH) derivations as a function of these parameters, namely spectral setup, signal-To-noise ratio, σ, and the SFH itself. Results. All the studies we conduct (both full spectral fitting and absorption line indices) of the stellar populations of NGC 7025 indicate that the stars that form its bulge have supersolar metallicity and considerably old ages (∼10 Gyr) in general. Using three different combinations of MEGARA spectral setups, we determined that the bulge of NGC 7025 has smild negative mass-weighted age gradient. For the more detailed SFH, our results indicate that in addition to a rather constant star formation at early epochs, a peak in the formation history of the stars in the bulge is also found 3.5-4.5 Gyr ago. This partly explains the mass-weighted age gradients we measured. Conclusions. The scenario presented in NGC 7025 is that of an isolated galaxy under secular evolution that about 3.5-4.5 Gyr ago likely experienced a minor merger (mass ratio 1/10) that induced an increase in star formation and also perturbed the morphology of its outer disc. In addition to these specific results for NGC 7025, we report different lessons learned for the ongoing exploitation of the MEGADES survey with the GTC, such as the need to obtain combined observations in the LR-B + LR-V setups and a signal-To-noise ratio of at least 20 per Å. © ESO 2022., Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. This project used data obtained with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which was constructed by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration. The Legacy Surveys imaging of the DESI footprint is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH1123, by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility under the same contract; and by the US National Science Foundation, Division of Astronomical Sciences under Contract No. AST-0950945 to NOAO. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. This work has been supported by MINECO-FEDER grants AYA2016-75808-R and RTI2018-096188-B-I00. J.I.P. acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa award to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709). J.I.P. acknowledges finantial support from projects Estallidos6 AYA2016-79724-C4 (Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad), Estallidos7 PID2019-107408GB-C44 (Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion), grant P18-FR-2664 (Junta de Andalucía), and grant SEV-2017-0709 “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa Program” (Spanish Science Ministry).

We present the main results from the analysis of the Hα-[NII] emission lines with integral field spectroscopy observations gathered with MEGARA at the GTC of the nearby Seyfert 1.5 galaxy NGC7469. We obtained maps of the ionised gas in the inner 12.5 arcsec × 11.3 arcsec, at spatial scales of 0.62 arcsec, with an unprecedented spectral resolution (R ˜ 20 000). We characterized the kinematics and ionisation mechanism of the distinct kinematic components (Cazzoli et al.2019).

This paper presents a new architecture that integrates Internet of Things (IoT) devices, service robots, and users in a smart assistive environment. A new intuitive and multimodal interaction system supporting people with disabilities and bedbound patients is presented. This interaction system allows the user to control service robots and devices inside the room in five different ways: touch control, eye control, gesture control, voice control, and augmented reality control. The interaction system is comprised of an assistive robotic arm holding a tablet PC. The robotic arm can place the tablet PC in front of the user. A demonstration of the developed technology, a prototype of a smart room equipped with home automation devices, and the robotic assistive arm are presented. The results obtained from the use of the various interfaces and technologies are presented in the article. The results include user preference with regard to eye-base control (performing clicks, and using winks or gaze) and the use of mobile phones over augmented reality glasses, among others.

MEGARA (Multi Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía) is an optical (3650-9750 Å), fibre-fed, medium-high spectral resolution (R = 6000, 12 000 and 20 000) instrument for the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) 10.4-m telescope, commissioned in the summer of 2017, and currently in operation. The scientific exploitation of MEGARA requires a stellar spectra library to interpret galaxy data and to estimate the contribution of the stellar populations. In this paper, we introduce the MEGARA-GTC spectral library, detailing the rationale behind the building of this catalogue. We present the spectra of 97 stars (21 individual stars and 56 members of the globular cluster M15, which are both subsamples taken during the commissioning runs, and 20 stars from our ongoing GTC Open-Time programme). The spectra have R = 20 000 in the HR-R and HR-I set-ups, centred at 6563 and 8633 Å, respectively. We describe the procedures to reduce and analyse the data. Then, we determine the best-fitting theoretical models to each spectrum through a χ2 minimization technique, to derive the stellar physical parameters, and we discuss the results. We have also measured some absorption lines and indices. Finally, we introduce our project to complete the library and the data base in order to make the spectra available to the community.© 2020 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society, This work has been supported by MINECO-FEDER grants AYA2016-75808-R and AYA2016-79724-C4-3-P, and has been partially funded by FRACTAL, INAOE and CIEMAT. This work is based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, on the island of La Palma. This work is based on data obtained with MEGARA instrument, funded by the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), through Programa Operativo Canarias FEDER 2014–2020. The authors are grateful for the support given by Dr Antonio Cabrera and Dr Daniel Reverte, GTC Operations Group staff, during the preparation and execution of the observations at the GTC. The authors acknowledge an anonymous referee for comments that have substantially improved the manuscript.

We present our analysis of high-resolution (R similar to 20 000) GTC/MEGARA integral-field unit spectroscopic observations, obtained during the commissioning run, in the inner region (12.5 arcsec x 11.3 arcsec) of the active galaxy NGC7469, at spatial scales of 0.62 arcsec. We explore the kinematics, dynamics, ionization mechanisms, and oxygen abundances of the ionized gas, by modelling the H alpha-[N II] emission lines at high signal-to-noise (> 15) with multiple Gaussian components. MEGARA observations reveal, for the first time for NGC 7469, the presence of a very thin (20 pc) ionized gas disc supported by rotation (V/sigma = 4.3), embedded in a thicker (222 pc), dynamically hotter (V/sigma = 1.3) one. These discs nearly corotate with similar peak-to-peak velocities (163 versus 137 km s(-1)), but with different average velocity dispersion (38 +/- 1 versus 108 +/- 4 km s(-1)). The kinematics of both discs could be possibly perturbed by star-forming regions. We interpret the morphology and the kinematics of a third (broader) component (sigma > 250 km s(-1)) as suggestive of the presence of non-rotational turbulent motions possibly associated either to an outflow or to the lense. For the narrow component, the [N II]/H alpha ratios point to the star-formation as the dominant mechanism of ionization, being consistent with ionization from shocks in the case of the intermediate component. All components have roughly solar metallicity. In the nuclear region of NGC7469, at r, This paper is based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrof ' isica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. This work is based on data obtained with MEGARA instrument, funded by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), trough Programa Operativo Canarias FEDER 2014-2020. SC, IM, JM, and LHM acknowledge financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MEC) under grant no. AYA2016-76682-C3. We also acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the `Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa' award to the Instituto de Astrof ' isica de Andaluc ' ia (SEV-2017-0709). AGdP, JG, ACM, SP, andNCacknowledge financial support from the Spanish MEC under grant no. AYA2016-75808-R. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We acknowledge the usage of the HyperLeda database (http://leda.univ-lyon1.fr). This paper made use of the plotting package JMAPLOT, developed by Jesus Maiz-Apellaniz available at: http://jmaiz.iaa.es/software/jmaplot/current/html/jmaplot overview.html. The authors acknowledge the anonymous referee for her/his instructive comments that helped to improve the presentation of this paper. SC thanks R. Amorin and R. Schodel for their useful comments.

We present a comprehensive analysis of the multiphase structure of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the stellar kinematics in the edge-on nearby galaxy UGC 10205 using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data taken with Multi-Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía (MEGARA) at the GTC. We explore both the neutral and the ionized gas phases using the interstellar Na i D doublet absorption (LR-V setup, R ∼ 6000) and the Hα emission line (HR-R setup, R ∼ 18000), respectively. The high-resolution data show the complexity of the Hα emission-line profile revealing the detection of up to three kinematically distinct gaseous components. Despite of this fact, a thin-disk model is able to reproduce the bulk of the ionized gas motions in the central regions of UGC 10205. The use of asymmetric drift corrections is needed to reconciliate the ionized and the stellar velocity rotation curves. We also report the detection of outflowing neutral gas material blueshifted by ∼ 87 km s-1. The main physical properties that describe the observed outflow are a total mass M out = (4.55 0.06) 107 M and a cold-gas mass outflow rate M yr-1. This work points out the necessity of exploiting high-resolution IFS data to understand the multiphase components of the ISM and the multiple kinematical components in the central regions of nearby galaxies. © 2020. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.., The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under grant No. AYA2016-75808-R, which is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), AYA2017-90589-REDT, RTI2018-096188-B-I00, S2018/NMT-4291, and ESP2017-83197P projects. C.C.T. gratefully acknowledges the support of the European Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) by means of the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. G.B. acknowledges financial support from DGAPA-UNAM through PAPIIT project IG100319.

Disky bulges in spiral galaxies are commonly thought to form out of disk materials (mainly) via bar-driven secular processes. They are structurally and dynamically distinct from >classical bulges,> which are built in violent merger events. We use high-resolution GTC/MEGARA integral-field unit spectroscopic observations of the Sa galaxy NGC 7025, obtained during the MEGARA commissioning run, together with detailed 1D and 2D decompositions of this galaxy's Sloan Digital Sky Survey i-band data to investigate the formation of its disky (bulge) component, which makes up ∼30% of the total galaxy light. With a Sérsic index n ∼ 1.80 ± 0.24, a half-light radius Re ∼ 1.70 ± 0.43 kpc, and stellar mass M ∗ ∼(4.34 ± 1.70) × 10 10 M o , this bulge dominates the galaxy light distribution in the inner (∼4.7 kpc). Measuring the spins (λ) and ellipticities (ϵ) enclosed within nine different circular apertures with radii R ≤ Re, we show that the bulge, which exhibits a spin track of outwardly rising λ and , is a fast rotator for all the apertures considered. Our findings suggest that this inner disky component is a pseudo-bulge, consistent with the stellar and dust spiral patterns seen in the galaxy down to the innermost regions but in contrast to the classical bulge interpretation favored in the past. We propose that a secular process involving the tightly wound stellar spiral arms of NGC 7025 may be driving gas and stars out of the disk into the inner regions of the galaxy, building up the massive pseudo-bulge. © 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., We thank the referee for their careful reading of the paper and many suggestions that improved the paper. B.T.D. acknowledges support from a Spanish postdoctoral fellowship, >Ayudas 1265 para la atraccion del talento investigador. Modalidad 2: jovenes investigadores,> funded by Comunidad de Madrid under grant no. 2016-T2/TIC-2039. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under grant no. AYA2016-75808-R, which is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and from the Excellence Network MaegNet (AYA2017-90589-REDT). We acknowledge financial support from SpaceTec-CM: Desarrollo de nuevas tecnologias para instrumentacion espacial en la Comunidad de Madrid, S2013/ICE-2822. Funding for SDSS-IV has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and the Participating Institutions. SDSS-IV acknowledges support and resources from the Center for High-Performance Computing at the University of Utah.

Robotic observatories are ideal infrastructures that can be remotely accessed by scientists, amateurs, and general public for research and education in Astronomy. Its robotization is a complex process for ensuring autonomy, safety, and coordination among all subsystems. Some observatories, such as Francisco Sanchez’s, are equipped with two types of telescopes: one for the night and one for the day. The night-time telescope must be protected from exposure to sunlight in order to use them in an automated way. For this purpose, this article proposes the design and construction of a smart cover that opens and closes according to the time of day. The mechatronic design covers the electronic, mechanical, and software programming, and it has been devised taking while taking the principles of open design, ease of reproduction, low-cost, and smart behaviour into account. The design has been parameterized, so that it can be adapted to telescopes of any size. The final prototype is lightweight, cost-effective, and can be built while using common 3D printing and PCB milling machines. The complete design is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 and all the documentation, schematics, and software are available in public repositories, like Zenodo, GitHub, and Instructables.

MEGARA is an integral-field and multi-object medium-resolution spectrograph for the GTC 10.4m telescope, which was commissioned on June - August 2017. MEGARA offers two observing modes, the LCB mode, a large central IFU; and a Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) mode, composed by 92 robotic positioners carrying 7-fiber minibundles each. This paper presents the models and measurements developed for the alignment between the image of the telescope pupil and the 100-¿m fiber cores during the integration and verification at the laboratory. On the one hand, the error in the positioner-minibundles assembly was optimized with the aim of achieving a fiber-to-fiber flux homogeneity better than 10%. On the other hand, the positioner pointing was characterized in order to achieve a pointing precision of 1/5 of the spaxel size (which has been designed to be 0.62 arcsec). The on-sky measurements obtained during the commissioning to verify our laboratory results are also presented. © 2018 SPIE.

On June 25th 2017, the new intermediate-resolution optical IFU and MOS of the 10.4-m GTC had its first light. As part of the tests carried out to verify the performance of the instrument in its two modes (IFU and MOS) and 18 spectral setups (identical number of VPHs with resolutions R=6000-20000 from 0.36 to 1 micron) a number of astronomical objects were observed. These observations show that MEGARA@GTC is called to fill a niche of high-throughput, intermediateresolution IFU and MOS observations of extremely-faint narrow-lined objects. Lyman-¿ absorbers, star-forming dwarfs or even weak absorptions in stellar spectra in our Galaxy or in the Local Group can now be explored to a new level. Thus, the versatility of MEGARA in terms of observing modes and spectral resolution and coverage will allow GTC to go beyond current observational limits in either depth or precision for all these objects. The results to be presented in this talk clearly demonstrate the potential of MEGARA in this regard. © 2018 SPIE.

MEGARA is an IFU & MOS medium-resolution spectrograph that finished its commissioning at the GTC 10m telescope on August 2017. MEGARA is a fiber-fed high-resolution spectrograph with two major units, Fiber-MOS & Spectrograph, that are now located at the Folded-Cass F and Nasmyth-A foci of GTC respectively. These are linked by more than 1200 fibers 44.5m-length split between two observing modes, the LCB (Integral Field Unit, IFU) and a Multi-Object (MOS) capability with 92 robotic positioners each one provided with a mini-bundle of 7 fibers. The spectrograph can accommodate 18 VPHs (11 of them can be simultaneously mounted) covering the visible wavelength range at Resolving Powers between R=6000-20000. This paper presents the sequence of tasks carried out after Laboratory Acceptance at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid to move the whole instrument to the GTC. A detailed day-to-day plan was followed to disassemble, pack, transport, reintegrate the full instrument at the GTC and to verify performance to ensure the instrument was ready for commissioning. The lessons learnt are relevant to other double-focus instruments being developed such as WEAVE@WHT or PFS@Subaru. © 2018 SPIE.

This paper presents a particular case of a pedagogically successful, dynamic, and efficient remote laboratory. The aim of the remote laboratory is to learn how to program embedded real-time systems in a real machine such as a robot. The system supplies feedback information to the user through a Web browser and an ssh terminal. Likewise, the remote laboratory allows a high degree of interaction owing to a clear and simple interface. This type of telecontrol Web-based system generates strong interest among students. The following are the two main contributions of this system: The remote laboratory allows collaboration among students in order to solve the problem, and the usage of a free software architecture allows anyone to replicate and improve the laboratory.

This paper describes Ciclope, a free software project designed to solve the problem of the lack of practical assignments in technical universities due to scarce resources and to the design of the educational system. Ciclope offers software and content to replicate the educational Web labs that the authors have designed, and whose architecture and work methodology are intended for teachers who want to create new Web labs. The biggest advantages of these kinds of laboratories are that users can work through the Internet as if they were present in the lab, but without space or time restrictions. Furthermore, teachers can have full control of what students do, since all operations are registered in a database which helps them to evaluate the students. Ciclope proposes a modular structure based on software components that are easy to install, configure, and extend according to teachers' needs. So far, various Web labs have been built to carry out practical assignments in astronomy, automatic control, chemistry, image processing, robotics, and real-time operating systems. The software, documentation, and content developed in this project are free, under GNU (a recursive acronym meaning GNU is Not UNIX) licenses, and as in all free projects, the authors welcome all collaboration from the educational community.

MEGARA is the future visible integral-field and multi-object spectrograph for the GTC 10.4-m telescope located in La Palma. INAOE is a member of the MEGARA Consortium and it is in charge of the Optics Manufacturing work package. MEGARA passed the Optics Detailed Design Review in May 2013, and the blanks of the main optics have been already ordered and their manufacturing is in progress. Except for the optical fibers and microlenses, the complete MEGARA optical system will be manufactured in Mexico, shared between the workshops of INAOE and CIO. This includes a field lens, a 5-lenses collimator, a 7-lenses camera and a complete set of volume phase holographic gratings with 36 flat windows and 24 prisms, being all these elements very large and complex. Additionally, the optical tests and the complete assembly of the camera and collimator subsystems will be carried out in Mexico. Here we describe the current status of the optics manufacturing process.

MEGARA is the future integral-field and multi-object spectrograph for the GTC 10.4m telescope located in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. INAOE is a member of the MEGARA Consortium and it is in charge of the Optics Manufacturing work package. In addition to the manufacturing of 73 elements, the work package includes the opto-mechanics i.e. the opto-mechanical design, manufacture, tests and integration of the complete assembly of the main optics composed by the collimator and camera subsystems. MEGARA passed the Optics Detailed Design Review in May 2013 and will have the Detailed Design Review of the complete instrument early 2014. Here we describe the detailed design of the collimator and camera barrels. We also present the finite elements models developed to simulate the behavior of the barrel, sub-cells and other mechanical elements. These models verify that the expected stress fields and the gravitational displacements on the lenses are compatible with the optical quality tolerances. The design is finished and ready for fabrication.

Optical tolerances are specified to achieve the desired performance of any optical system. Traditionally the diverse sets of tolerances of a system are proposed by the designer of each of the subsystems. In this work we propose a method to corroborate the design tolerances and simultaneously to provide extra data of each parameter to the manufacturer. It consists of an inverse analysis in which we fix a modified merit function as a constant and evaluate distinct models of perturbed lenses via Monte Carlo simulations, determining the best possible tolerance for each parameter, and indirectly providing information of sensitivity of the parameters. The method was used to carry out an extensive tolerance analysis of MEGARA, a multi-object spectrograph in development for the GTC. The key parameters of the optics are discussed, the overall performance is tested and diverse recommendations and adjustments to the design tolerances are made towards fabrication at INAOE and CIO in Mexico.

MEGARA (Multi-Espectrografo en GTC de Alta Resolucion para Astronomia) is an optical Integral-Field Unit and Multi-Object Spectrograph designed for the GTC (Gran Telescopio de Canarias) 10.4m telescope in La Palma. MEGARA project has already passed preliminary design review and the optics critical design review, first-light it is expected to take place at the end of 2016. MEGARA is a development under a GRANTECAN contract. In this paper we summarize the current status of the LN2 open-cycle cryostat which has been designed by the “Astronomical Instrumentation Lab for Millimeter Wavelengths” at the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) and emphasize the key parts of the system that have updated since the Preliminary Design, the main activities related to acceptance, integration, fabrication and maintenance plans which fit into the overall structure of the management plan of MEGARA are also described. The cryogenic work package of MEGARA has completed all the design stages and is ready for its Critical Design Review and then proceed to fabrication.

MEGARA (Multi-Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía) is an optical Integral-Field Unit (IFU) and Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) designed for the GTC 10.4m telescope in La Palma. MEGARA offers two IFU fiber bundles, one covering 12.5x11.3 arcsec^2 with a spaxel size of 0.62 arcsec (Large Compact Bundle; LCB) and another one covering 8.5x6.7 arcsec^2 with a spaxel size of 0.42 arcsec (Small Compact Bundle; SCB). The MEGARA MOS mode will allow observing up to 100 objects in a region of 3.5x3.5 arcmin^2 around the two IFU bundles. Both the LCB IFU and MOS capabilities of MEGARA will provide intermediate-to-high spectral resolutions (R_FWHM∽6,000, 12,000 and 18,700, respectively for the low-, mid-and high-resolution Volume Phase Holographic gratings) in the range 3650-9700 ÅÅ. These values become R_FWHM∽7,000, 13,500, and 21,500 when the SCB is used. A mechanism placed at the pseudo-slit position allows exchanging the three observing modes and also acts as focusing mechanism. The spectrograph is a collimator-camera system that has a total of 11 VPHs simultaneously available (out of the 18 VPHs designed and being built) that are placed in the pupil by means of a wheel and an insertion mechanism. The custom-made cryostat hosts an E2V231-84 4kx4k CCD. The UCM (Spain) leads the MEGARA Consortium that also includes INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain), and UPM (Spain). MEGARA is being developed under a contract between GRANTECAN and UCM. The detailed design, construction and AIV phases are now funded and the instrument should be delivered to GTC before the end of 2016.

The project management of complex instruments for ground-based large telescopes is a challenge itself. A good management is a clue for project success in terms of performance, schedule and budget. Being on time has become a strict requirement for two reasons: to assure the arrival at the telescope due to the pressure on demanding new instrumentation for this first world-class telescopes and to not fall in over-costs. The budget and cash-flow is not always the expected one and has to be properly handled from different administrative departments at the funding centers worldwide distributed. The complexity of the organizations, the technological and scientific return to the Consortium partners and the participation in the project of all kind of professional centers working in astronomical instrumentation: universities, research centers, small and large private companies, workshops and providers, etc. make the project management strategy, and the tools and procedures tuned to the project needs, crucial for success. MEGARA (Multi-Espectrografo en GTC de Alta Resolucion para Astronomia) is a facility instrument of the 10.4m GTC (La Palma, Spain) working at optical wavelengths that provides both Integral-Field Unit (IFU) and Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) capabilities at resolutions in the range R=6,000-20,000. The project is an initiative led by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) in collaboration with INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain) and Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain). MEGARA is being developed under contract with GRANTECAN.

This paper describes the GLORIA system (GLObal Robotic telescope Intelligent Array), the first worldwide network of robotic telescopes, which covers four continents with seventeen telescopes, and can be extended. The network architecture has been designed taking into account the functionalities offered to the community, the number of telescopes, users that will be managed and network compatibility with all kinds of robotic telescopes. Different kinds of experiments have been designed to support the various requirements of astronomers. In order to manage the user access to the network resources, an evaluation system, called karma, has been defined which will operate according to some established policy.

In these proceedings we give a summary of the characteristics and current status of the MEGARA instrument, the future optical IFU and MOS for the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). MEGARA is being built by a Consortium of public research institutions led by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM, Spain) that also includes INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain) and UPM (Spain). The MEGARA IFU includes two different fiber bundles, one called LCB (Large Compact Bundle) with a field-of-view of 12.5x11.3 arcsec(2) and a spaxel size of 0.62 arcsec yielding spectral resolutions between R=6,800-17,000 and another one called SCB (Small Compact Bundle) covering 8.5x6.7 arcsec(2) with hexagonally-shaped and packed 0.42-arcsec spaxels and resolutions R=8,000-20,000. The MOS component allows observing up to 100 targets in 3.5x3.5 arcmin(2). Both the IFU bundles and the set of 100 robotic positioners of the MOS will be placed at one of the GTC Folded-Cass foci while the spectrographs (one in the case of the MEGARA-Basic concept) will be placed at the Nasmyth platform. On March 2012 MEGARA passed the Preliminary Design Review and its first light is expected to take place at the end of 2015.

This paper describes the first open robotic observatory available to the public on the Internet (http://om.fi.upm.es), interactive and completely free access through a Web 2.0 application, which lets users manage professional astronomical devices and collaborate with other amateur users through a web browser. Its main goal is to open the astronomy to the society and that people learn informally about the cosmos by means of experimenting with real remote devices. Its architecture is made up by common collaborative Web 2.0 tools (such picture gallery, wiki, forum, chat, voting and discussing systems, etc.) and services and policies to offer meritocratically the observatory and its observing time. The paper presents an innovative approach which proposes a reputation system for sharing an online resource to encourage high-quality contributions, and the initial outcomes obtained since the observatory started in December 2008. This paper also describes the first experience using the observatory for carrying out online practical assignments in an Educational Innovation Project within the Technical University of Madrid during academic year 2008–2009 and using it for three subjects of these different degrees: Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, and Topography.

Ciclope robot is part of Ciclope project and its goal is to provide a real remote laboratory for teaching embedded real time systems. The students have to develop a control program that is going to run in an embedded computer with the free real time operating system RTEMS. Any student can accesses to this lab via Web by using a normal Internet browser. The students count with two different live views of the robots, in order to realize where it is placed at each moment. With these tool students can work at home via the Internet as if they were in the lab. Furthermore the teacher have full control of what the students are doing, because all the events are storaged into a data base. This permits distance evaluation. All the software used and made in this project is free and it is distributed under the GPL license.

PurposeCitizen Science – public participation in scientific projects – is becoming a global practice engaging volunteer participants, often non-scientists, with scientific research. Citizen Science is facing major challenges, such as quality and consistency, to reap open the full potential of its outputs and outcomes, including data, software and results. In this context, the principles put forth by Data Science and Open Science domains are essential for alleviating these challenges, which have been addressed at length in these domains. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which Citizen Science initiatives capitalise on Data Science and Open Science principles.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analysed 48 Citizen Science projects related to pollution and its effects. They compared each project against a set of Data Science and Open Science indicators, exploring how each project defines, collects, analyses and exploits data to present results and contribute to knowledge.FindingsThe results indicate several shortcomings with respect to commonly accepted Data Science principles, including lack of a clear definition of research problems and limited description of data management and analysis processes, and Open Science principles, including lack of the necessary contextual information for reusing project outcomes.Originality/valueIn the light of this analysis, the authors provide a set of guidelines and recommendations for better adoption of Data Science and Open Science principles in Citizen Science projects, and introduce a software tool to support this adoption, with a focus on preparation of data management plans in Citizen Science projects.

This paper presents an educational chemical laboratory accessible through the Internet. Its aim is providing remote access to a real spectrograph in order students carry out their practicals on distance, without restrictions of space or time, as if they were in the lab. Furthermore, teachers have full control of what students are doing, which is useful to evaluate. This lab has been used and tested with students of the 4 th year of the Industrial Engineering School (ETSII) of the Spanish Open University UNED (Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia). The system uses Ciclope architecture, methodology and philosophy, which is intended for building remote labs as libre projects. This means that all the software used and made, and the hardware developed in this project is free under the GPL license and it is available in SVN server of Ciclope project web page ( http://www.ciclope.info ). Furthermore, any person who would like to use, copy, imitate, modify, improve or collaborate with this project, or with any other of Ciclope, can do it following the instructions in Ciclope's URL.

MEGARA is the multi-object medium-resolution spectrograph for the GTC 10m telescope. MEGARA offers two observing modes, the LCB mode, a large central IFU; and a MOS mode composed by 92 robotic positioners carrying 7 fibers minibundles. Microlens are required to fit the GTC f/17 to the f/3 at the fiber entrance, where pupil image is oversized to have a fiber-to-fiber flux variation better than 10%. This tight requirement imposed manufacturing tolerances for the different components and required the development of a gluing station to provide a centering precision better than 5μm. We present the overview of the optical bundles, the gluing station and the final performance obtained during the integration and tests.