The Dynamic REd All-sky Monitoring Survey (DREAMS) is a near-infrared survey that will utilise a custom built 0.5m telescope located at the Australian National University’s Siding Spring Observatory.

The field of astronomy is enjoying a revolution in expanded opportunities thanks to the advent of more accessible technology. The speed, scope, and ambitions of observing programs have seen dramatic breakthroughs, enabled by nimble “all-sky” monitoring systems. Single static images have been replaced by rapid, continual observations, allowing astronomers to scan and target dramatic but short-lived events or subtle, varying signals that might have been missed before.

The significance of capturing these transient sources is perhaps best exemplified by the discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, a result that led to the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2017, the Nobel prize in Physics again focussed on the transient Universe when the international Advanced LIGO collaboration announced the first observation of gravitational waves (GW). This facility went on to detect a nearby neutron star (NS) merger with the fortunate orientation to pinpoint its location with relative ease.

Observations of this cataclysmic event at infrared wavelengths proved that such events are the forges in the Universe that produce elements such as gold and platinum. Gravitational wave telescopes are at the forefront of enabling next-generation astronomical facilities alongside current optical, radio, and neutrino detection facilities.

By comparison with the optical regime, the transient infrared sky still remains virtually unexplored from the ground. Infrared light is a powerful tool for probing transient events in dusty regions that are impenetrable to optical telescopes, as well as for detecting the coolest of stars that emit most of their light in the infrared.

Despite the value in pursuing observations in the infrared, until recently, the fundamental roadblocks to studying the infrared sky have been the blindingly bright sky background and the narrow field-of-view of infrared cameras. Infrared transient surveyors and all-sky survey telescopes would greatly assist in the search for infrared counterparts to multi-messenger astrophysical events while also complementing other existing and upcoming surveys, including SkyMapper, the Vera Rubin Observatory, and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF).

DREAMS is the next step in wide-field time-domain astronomy along with other surveys such as Palomar Gattini-IR and WINTER.

The development of DREAMS was supported by the Australian National University and the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme (LE200100012 and LE230100063).