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Gamma-ray burst optical follow-ups with robotic telescopes

Gamma-ray burst optical follow-ups with robotic telescopes. Michael I. Andersen Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam. Introduction. GRB intro, BATSE, a Gamma-ray view The Beppo-SAX revolution GRB science with robotic telescopes. First robotic GRB observation. BATSE light curves.

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Gamma-ray burst optical follow-ups with robotic telescopes

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  1. Gamma-ray burst optical follow-ups with robotic telescopes Michael I. Andersen AstrophysikalischesInstitutPotsdam

  2. Introduction • GRB intro, BATSE, a Gamma-ray view • The Beppo-SAX revolution • GRB science with robotic telescopes

  3. First robotic GRB observation

  4. BATSE light curves

  5. Hardness vs. duration

  6. GRB durations

  7. The BATSE sky

  8. Beppo-SAX

  9. GRB970228 in X-ray

  10. The first optical afterglow

  11. GRB990123 with ROTSE

  12. Redshift = 1.60

  13. Brightest object ever observed

  14. GRB990123 brightness If in M31 – brighter than the moon! If in Orion Nebula – brighter than the sun! What about four orders of magnitude more energy in Gamma-rays..... (its a planet-blaster!)

  15. GRB990705 host galaxy

  16. GRB000926: spectrum (z=2.0338)

  17. GRBs on the galactic plane

  18. GRBs – where are we now? • GRBs can be observed anywhere in the Universe (even if highly obscured!) • The energy is released through the interaction of an ultra-relativistic blast-wave with circum-burst medium • Caused by the core-collaps of a massive star (i.e. a star formation tracer) • Extremely broad optical luminosity function

  19. Science with GRBs • Extreme physics • The star formation history of the Universe • The chemical enrichment of the Universe • Tracing galaxy formation and evolution • Finding the first stars • Stellar evolution • And much more...........

  20. Robotic telescopes and GRBs:triggering larger telescopes • You don’t need large aperture • Front-line instrumentation not required • Better be fast! • Software for fast reduction critical

  21. Robotic GRB science • Monitoring light curves • Early spectroscopy, witness the interaction of the blast wave with the circum-burst medium (VLT Rapid Response Mode not fast enough) • Early polarization monitoring

  22. The SWIFT mission • Provides about 100 localisations/year • Accurate to about 4 arcmin • Delay less than one minute • Launch fall 2004

  23. Robotic telescopes in theSWIFT era • RT’s crusial for prompt follow-up and afterglow identification • Can aid observations at larger telescopes by providing magnitude predictions • Testing achromatic evolution through high precision multi-color photometry

  24. SWIFT GRB load on RT’s • Two in three goes off during telescope-closed time • Two in three are not in the visible sky • One in three goes off during bad weather Any site will at most have 10 rapid responses annually GRBs can’t occupy more than 5-10% of the telescope time

  25. A need for coordination • We should in general avoid duplicating efforts on monitoring light curves • However – we should also avoid that no data are taken • Pooling data in joint publications becomes ever more important with SWIFT

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