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  

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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.
 

 

• Automated Patrol Telescope (APT) Home Page
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Project Schedule
• Milestones
• Publications
• Acronym List - PLEASE send comments or pick one!
• Burst List

 

• 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?
1. 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).
2. 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.)
3. 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.

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