Editing Robotic telescope (section)

{{more citations needed|date=February 2010}}
[[Image:El Enano robotic telescope.jpg|thumb|300px|"El Enano", a robotic telescope]]
A '''robotic telescope''' is an [[astronomy|astronomical]] [[telescope]] and detector system that makes [[observation]]s without the intervention of a [[human]].  In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as [[robot]]ic if it makes those observations without being operated by a human, even if a human has to initiate the observations at the beginning of the night or end them in the morning. It may have [[software agent]]s using artificial intelligence that assist in various ways such as automatic scheduling.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2004ASPC..314..597A|title=STAR: Astronomers, Agents and when Robotic Telescopes aren't...|journal=Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (Adass) Xiii|bibcode=2004ASPC..314..597A|access-date=2016-08-27|last1=Allan|first1=A.|last2=Naylor|first2=T.|last3=Steele|first3=I.|last4=Carter|first4=D.|last5=Jenness|first5=T.|last6=Economou|first6=F.|last7=Adamson|first7=A.|year=2004|volume=314|page=597}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994ASPC...55..234M|title=Collaborative Networks of Independent Automatic Telescopes|last=Mason|first=Cindy|editor-last=Pyper|journal=Optical Astronomy from the Earth and Moon|year=1994|volume=55|page=234|publisher=Astronomical Society of The Pacific|bibcode=1994ASPC...55..234M|access-date=2016-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1992ASPC...28..123C|title=GNAT: Global Network of Automated Telescopes|last=Crawford|journal=Automated Telescopes for Photometry and Imaging|year=1992|volume=28|page=111|bibcode=1992ASPC...28..123C|access-date=2016-08-27}}</ref> A robotic telescope is distinct from a [[remote telescope]], though an instrument can be both robotic and remote.

By 2004, robotic observations accounted for an overwhelming percentage of the published scientific information on asteroid [[orbit]]s and discoveries, variable star studies, [[supernova]] [[light curve]]s and discoveries, comet orbits and [[gravitational lens|gravitational microlensing]] observations.

All early phase [[gamma ray burst]] observations were carried by robotic telescopes.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}