Automated 1.3-m near-infrared telescope system triggered by gamma-ray burst

Abstract

The design for robotic telescopes to observe Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows and the results of observations are presented. Quickly fading bright GRB flashes and afterglows provide a good tool to study an extremely early universe. However, most large ground-based telescopes cannot afford to follow-up the afterglows and flashes quickly within a few hours since a GRB explosion. We re-modeled the existing middle-class 1.3 m φ telescope of the near infrared band at ISAS in Japan to match for the above requirement. We also set a small telescope of 30 cm diameter with a conventional CCD. These telescopes can monitor afterglows quickly within a few minutes in J, H, Ks and R band with a grism spectrometer.