TAROT-South robotic observatory

TAROT-South robotic telescope

The 25cm TAROT telescope on La Silla
Organisation European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Location(s) La Silla, Coquimbo Region, Chile
Coordinates 29°15′40″S 70°43′53″W / 29.26111°S 70.73139°W / -29.26111; -70.73139
Altitude 2,375 m
First light September 9, 2006 (2006-09-09)
Telescope style Hyperbolic Newtonian reflector
Diameter 0.25 m
Secondary dia. 0.14 m
Angular resolution 3.5 arcsec
Collecting area 2°×2°
Focal length f/3.5
Mounting Equatorial fork mount
Enclosure Double sliding roof
Website Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires

TAROT (French: Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires, "Quick-action telescope for transient objects") is a project of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) aimed at rapidly reacting to particular data from other astronomical surveying facilities to monitor for and registering fast changing astronomical objects and phenomena. The target of this particular project is so-called gamma-ray bursts (GRB).[1]

The TAROT-South facility is a 25 cm very fast moving optical robotic telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. Able to accelerate at 120°/s2 to a top speed of 80°/s, it can begin observing within 1–1.5 seconds[2] of being notified by a gamma-ray telescope that a gamma-ray burst is in progress and can provide fast and accurate positions of transient events within seconds.

In addition to its own observations, an important purpose of the telescope is to find an accurate source location. With its wide field of view, it can take an approximate location (±1°) from a gamma-ray detector and produce a location accurate to 1″ within a minute,[2] for the benefit of follow-on observations by larger telescopes with longer reaction times.

It is a duplicate of the original TAROT telescope located at the Calern observatory, in France.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 [email protected]. "Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires".
  2. 1 2 M. Boer; A. Klotz; et al. (September 2003). "The Gamma-Ray Burst Hunt at La Silla: The TAROT-S Very Fast Moving Telescope" (PDF). The Messenger. ESO (113): 45–48.

See also


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