RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211

Details RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211 RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211

Oct 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004an....325..549v&link_type=abstract

Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol.325, Issue 6, p.549-552

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

13

Robotic Telescopes, Gamma Rays: Bursts

Scientific paper

We discuss the RAPTOR (Rapid Telescopes for Optical Response) sky monitoring system at Los Alamos National Laboratory. RAPTOR is a fully autonomous robotic system that is designed to identify and make follow-up observations of optical transients with durations as short as one minute. The RAPTOR design is based on Biomimicry of Human Vision. The sky monitor is composed of two identical arrays of telescopes, separated by 38 kilometers, which stereoscopically monitor a field of about 1300 square-degrees for transients. Both monitoring arrays are carried on rapidly slewing mounts and are composed of an ensemble of wide-field telescopes clustered around a more powerful narrow-field telescope called the ``fovea'' telescope. All telescopes are coupled to real-time analysis pipelines that identify candidate transients and relay the information to a central decision unit that filters the candidates to find real celestial transients and command a response. When a celestial transient is found, the system can point the fovea telescopes to any position on the sky within five seconds and begin follow-up observations. RAPTOR also responds to Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) alerts generated by GRB monitoring spacecraft. Here we present RAPTOR observations of GRB 021211 that constitute the earliest detection of optical emission from that event and are the second fastest achieved for any GRB. The detection of bright optical emission from GRB021211, a burst with modest gamma-ray fluence, indicates that prompt optical emission, detectable with small robotic telescopes, is more common than previously thought. Further, the very fast decline of the optical afterglow from GRB 021211 suggests that some so-called ``optically dark'' GRBs were not detected only because of the slow response of the follow-up telescopes.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and RAPTOR: Closed-Loop monitoring of the night sky and the earliest optical detection of GRB 021211 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-896045