APT Gamma-Ray Burst Counterpart Search
Acronyms-of-the-Day=
1. SODoM Southern Ot Database Machine
2. SOFA Southern Optical transient FActory
Saul Perlmutter(1), Bruce Grossan(1), Michael Ashley(2)
(1)Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC Berkeley
(CfPA and Space Sience Lab), (2)Univ. New South Wales, Australia
HEADLINES
98 May 28 - APT begins mosaic observations of field of 980527. Preliminary
Reduction: no obvious (bright) candidates at this time. Refined
subtractions and candidate identification in progress.
98 May 22 - APT on Patrol for GRBs!
Nightly monitoring of GRB980425/SN1998bw begins in V. Light
Curve in progress.
BG, the "leading Gamma-Ray Burst Hunter", makes page
1 of the Sydney Morning Herald.
11/97 Project Description Presented at 4th Huntsville GRB Conference, published
in proceedings.
9/97 APT project awarded GRO grant.
~8/97 APT project awarded NSF SGER grant.
Successful Observations
-
GRB970229 - Only Optical Coverage
-
GRB970326.6 - Only Optical Coverage again.
Contents
Private Documents
Automation
Plan Monthly
Reports - private
Milestones
-
6/97 - Observations of GRB970616
-
3/97 - Observations of GRBs 970326b, 970329
-
10/96 - Saul Perlmutter, Bruce Grossan, Michael Ashley and John Storey
awarded AAS Chretien International Research Grant for 1996: "An optical
search for Gamma-Ray Burst Counterparts". Just a few details here.
Publications
"A search for Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Emission with the Automated Patrol
Telescope", Grossan, B., Perlmutter, S., Ashley, M. A., 1998, in "Gamma-Ray
Bursts, 4th Huntsville Symposium", ed. C. Meegan, R. Preece & T. Koshut
(New York:AIP). in prep.
You can easily download the compressed
tar postscript in one go, or go to babbage and get it in their
terrible multi-file
format.
Schedule
Bruce back to APT site in Aus Feb 97
APT back up late Dec. 97
Proposed
Future Schedule (Team Members Only)
Frequently Asked Questions
What can the APT do that other instruments can't?
-
The APT has an event rate > 6 times that for conventional optical telescopes,
due to its BATSE reponse capabilities. Conventional telescopes are
dependent on SAX and the highest quality RXTE
positions. The project will deliver 10 optical transients (OTs)
for detailed study in 1-2 years (assuming 25% OT rate per
X/gamma localization, precise number depending on LOCBURST rate).
-
The APT Project is a DEDICATED project. It will not miss any bursts
due to scheduling problems. It can also respond faster to alerts (no negotiating
with observers, no changing instruments, etc.)
-
The APT is by far the largest instrument capable of searching for prompt
optical emission, that is, during gamma emission) .
Burst List
-
980109 - Some V data on 980110 courtesy of Wojtek Krzeminski
-No Transiensts announced as of 980112
-
971227 - Keck Data on 980101
-No Transiensts verified as of 980112
-
970616 - MSO (Mount Stromlo Observatory) data from 970623
-
970329 - APT Images Only -No X-ray localization.
-
970326b - APT Images Only - No X-ray localization.
Handy GRB Facts
BATSE Burst Rate
The BATSE burst rate = 1637/5.36=305.4 bursts/year.
From the preamble to the web version of the 4B: "This file specifies
the locations and times for 1637 triggered gamma-ray bursts observed from
19 April, 1991 until 29 August, 1996."
Localization Rate
Total GCN Prompt Rate= 180/year, 100 per year with 68% diameter
< 24 deg.s
LOCBURST Rate
52-104 per year.
Spelling of BeppoSAX
Beppo in honor of Giuseppe (Beppo) Occhialini, SAX must be all capitalized
to stand for Satellite italiano per Astronomia X, MOOSHED TOGETHER - NO
SPACE. 1997A&AS..122..299B