MRT workshop

Our profound lack of knowledge about what are rings, how they form, and what are their lifetimes powers strong controversies in the scientific community. There is no consensus today about how to interpret the existence of the known icy rings in the Solar System —around Saturn and some minor bodies— and where to find rings in extrasolar systems. The MRT project (“Moons and Rings in Taiwan”) aims to advance on these questions from the perspective of rings demographics in the Solar System.

Today, the only method able to detect rings around minor bodies is by recording the light curve of a star during a stellar occultation (i.e. when the minor body passes in front of the star and briefly occults it as seen from Earth). The precise geometry of the small body and its ring can be reconstructed if this event is observed simultaneously by several observers separated by tens of kilometres, or hundreds of kilometres depending on the size of the body. The MRT project uses this method to search for new rings and moons around known small Solar System bodies. It runs a network of small telescopes distributed across Taiwan’s territory: one prototype telescope is ready in Taipei; other telescopes are soon to be installed.

The number of predicted stellar occultations by known Solar System bodies observable from Taiwan is very large: up to one promising event per week. For this reason, we need a team of voluntary observers able to go to the MRT telescopes and operate them. All telescope stations will be reachable in a few hours from Taiwan’s main cities. Travel fees are covered by the project. Observers will be included as regular co-authors of discovery papers.

This workshop is the first training session addressed to new observers. It will cover the context of the MRT project, its current status, and a technical presentation of the equipment and how to use it. No preliminary knowledge about the use of telescopes is required. After this training session, new observers will be able to operate MRT telescopes in full autonomy. They will be able to register to the predicted event(s) of their choice, go to the telescope… and perhaps become discoverer of a new ring!

If you plan to attend this workshop, please send your name and institute (if any) to melaine.saillenfest@obspm.fr before June 2, 2026.