Monique Bernas

Recent Developments in the BOOTES Experiment

BOOTES, the Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System, is mostly a Spanish‐Czech international collaboration that works to fill the space that there actually exists in the rapid variability Astronomy. It is specially aimed towards the detection and study of the optical transients that are generated in conjunction with the elusive GRBs (Gamma Ray Bursts). Since 1998 BOOTES has provided follow ups for more than 60 of these phenomena with the first of its observatories; the most important results obtained so far are the detection of an OT (Optical Transient) in the GRB 000313 error box and the non detection of optical emission simultaneous to the GRB 010220 event. With the recent inauguration of a second observatory BOOTES multiplies its science capabilities.

CCTV effectiveness study

The field of CCTV surveillance is topical and widely used in many different applications. The fundamental part of the CCTV system is a reliable image evaluation by a human observer, whose effectiveness is influenced by many variables. Optimization of the effectiveness is a multidimensional problem related to both technical and human characteristics. In many applied systems, the overall performance is affected by a real performance of technical system (image compression, channel transmission, etc.). On the other hand these technical systems have different optimization criteria than a typical video system. TNO Defence, Security and Safety (formerly the TNO Physics and Electronics Laboratory) initiated a project in which the influence of several technical variables on the operators effectiveness was studied. The whole project was carried out in close co-operation with the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU). The paper demonstrates and summarizes selected experimental results and evaluated dependencies.

Detection of an optical transient following the 13 March 2000 short/hard gamma-ray burst ?

We imaged the error box of a gamma-ray burst of the short (0.5 s), hard type (GRB 000313), with the BOOTES-1 experiment in southern Spain, starting 4 min after the-ray event, in the I-band. A bright optical transient (OT 000313) with I= 9:4 0:1 was found in the BOOTES-1 image, close to the error box (3) provided by BATSE. Late time VRIK 0 -band deep observations failed to reveal an underlying host galaxy. If the OT 000313 is related to the short, hard GRB 000313, this would be the first optical counterpart ever found for this kind of events (all counterparts to date have been found for bursts of the long, soft type). The fact that only prompt optical emission has been detected (but no afterglow emission at all, as supported by theoretical models) might explain why no optical counterparts have ever been found for short, hard GRBs. This fact suggests that most short bursts might occur in a low-density medium and favours the models that relate them to binary mergers in very low-density environments.