R. R. White

Energy input and response from prompt and early optical afterglow emission in γ-ray bursts

The taxonomy of optical emission detected during the critical first few minutes after the onset of a γ-ray burst (GRB) defines two broad classes: prompt optical emission correlated with prompt γ-ray emission, and early optical afterglow emission uncorrelated with the γ-ray emission. The standard theoretical interpretation attributes prompt emission to internal shocks in the ultra-relativistic outflow generated by the internal engine; early afterglow emission is attributed to shocks generated by interaction with the surrounding medium. Here we report on observations of a bright GRB that, for the first time, clearly show the temporal relationship and relative strength of the two optical components. The observations indicate that early afterglow emission can be understood as reverberation of the energy input measured by prompt emission. Measurements of the early afterglow reverberations therefore probe the structure of the environment around the burst, whereas the subsequent response to late-time impulsive energy releases reveals how earlier flaring episodes have altered the jet and environment parameters. Many GRBs are generated by the death of massive stars that were born and died before the Universe was ten per cent of its current age, so GRB afterglow reverberations provide clues about the environments around some of the first stars.

GAMMA-RAY BURST AT THE EXTREME: “THE NAKED-EYE BURST” GRB 080319B

On 2008 March 19, the northern sky was the stage of a spectacular optical transient that for a few seconds remained visible to the naked eye. The transient was associated with GRB 080319B, a gamma-ray burst (GRB) at a luminosity distance of about 6 Gpc (standard cosmology), making it the most luminous optical object ever recorded by humankind. We present comprehensive sky monitoring and multicolor optical follow-up observations of GRB 080319B collected by the RAPTOR telescope network covering the development of the explosion and the afterglow before, during, and after the burst. The extremely bright prompt optical emission revealed features that are normally not detectable. The optical and gamma-ray variability during the explosion are correlated, but the optical flux is much greater than can be reconciled with single-emission mechanism and a flat gamma-ray spectrum. This extreme optical behavior is best understood as synchrotron self-Compton model (SSC). After a gradual onset of the gamma-ray emission, there is an abrupt rise of the prompt optical flux, suggesting that variable self-absorption dominates the early optical light curve. Our simultaneous multicolor optical light curves following the flash show spectral evolution consistent with a rapidly decaying red component due to large-angle emission and the emergence of a blue forward-shock component from interaction with the surrounding environment. While providing little support for the reverse shock that dominates the early afterglow, these observations strengthen the case for the universal role of the SSC mechanism in generating GRBs.

RAPTOR Observations of Delayed Explosive Activity in the High-Redshift Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 060206

The Rapid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) system at Los Alamos National Laboratory observed GRB 060206 starting 48.1 minutes after γ-ray emission triggered the Burst Alert Telescope on board the Swift satellite. The afterglow light curve measured by RAPTOR shows a spectacular rebrightening by ~1 mag about 1 hr after the trigger and peaks at R ~ 16.4 mag. Shortly after the onset of the explosive rebrightening, the optical transient doubled its flux on a timescale of about 4 minutes. The total R-band fluence received from GRB 060206 during this episode is 2.3 × 10-9 ergs cm-2. In the rest frame of the burst (z = 4.045), this yields an isotropic equivalent energy release of Eiso ~ 0.7 × 1050 ergs in just a narrow UV band, λ 130 ± 22 nm. We discuss the implications of RAPTOR observations for untriggered searches for fast optical transients and studies of GRB environments at high redshift.

Raptor observations of the early optical afterglow from GRB 050319

The RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) system at Los Alamos National Laboratory observed GRB 050319 starting 25.4 s after γ-ray emission triggered the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board the Swift satellite. Our well-sampled light curve of the early optical afterglow is composed of 32 points (derived from 70 exposures) that measure the flux decay during the first hour after the GRB. The GRB 050319 light curve measured by RAPTOR can be described as a relatively gradual flux decline (power-law index α = -0.38) with a transition, at about ~400 s after the GRB, to a faster flux decay (α = -0.91). The addition of other available measurements to the RAPTOR light curve suggests that another emission component emerged after ~104 s. We hypothesize that the early afterglow emission is powered by extended energy injection or delayed reverse-shock emission followed by the emergence of forward-shock emission.

Searching for Optical Transients in Real‐Time: The RAPTOR Experiment

A rich, but relatively unexplored, region in optical astronomy is the study of transients with durations of less than a day. We describe a wide‐field optical monitoring system, RAPTOR, which is designed to identify and make follow‐up observations of optical transients in real‐time. The system is composed of an array of telescopes that continuously monitor about 1500 square degrees of the sky for transients down to about 12th magnitude in 60 seconds and a central fovea telescope that can reach 16th magnitude in 60 seconds. Coupled to the telescope array is a real‐time data analysis pipeline that is designed to identify transients on timescales of seconds. In a manner analogous to human vision, the entire array is mounted on a rapidly slewing robotic mount so that the fovea of the array can be rapidly directed at transients identified by the wide‐field system. The goal of the project is to develop a ground‐based optical system that can reliably identify transients in real‐time and ultimately generate alerts...

Real-time detection of optical transients with RAPTOR

Fast variability of optical objects is an interesting though poorly explored subject in modern astronomy. Real-time data processing and identification of transient celestial events in the images is very important for such study as it allows rapid follow-up with more sensitive instruments. We discuss an approach which we have developed for the RAPTOR project, a pioneering closed-loop system combining real-time transient detection with rapid follow-up. RAPTORs data processing pipeline is able to identify and localize an optical transient within seconds after the observation. The testing we performed so far have been confirming the effectiveness of our method for the optical transient detection. The software pipeline we have developed for RAPTOR can easily be applied to the data from other experiments.

Distributed control system for rapid astronomical transient detection

The Rapid Telescope for Optical Response (RAPTOR) program consists of a network of robotic telescopes dedicated to the search for fast optical transients. The pilot project is composed of three observatories separated by approximately 38 kilometers located near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Each of these observatories is composed of a telescope, mount, enclosure, and weather station, all operating robotically to perform individual or coordinated transient searches. The telescopes employ rapidly slewing mounts capable of slewing a 250 pound load 180 degrees in under 2 seconds with arcsecond precision. Each telescope consists of wide-field cameras for transient detection and a narrow-field camera with greater resolution and sensitivity. The telescopes work together by employing a closed-loop system for transient detection and follow-up. Using the combined data from simultaneous observations, transient alerts are generated and distributed via the Internet. Each RAPTOR telescope also has the capability of rapidly responding to external transient alerts received over the Internet from a variety of ground-based and satellite sources. Each observatory may be controlled directly, remotely, or robotically while providing state-of-health and observational results to the client and the other RAPTOR observatories. We discuss the design and implementation of the spatially distributed RAPTOR system.

TALON: the telescope alert operation network system: intelligent linking of distributed autonomous robotic telescopes

The internet has brought about great change in the astronomical community, but this interconnectivity is just starting to be exploited for use in instrumentation. Utilizing the internet for communicating between distributed astronomical systems is still in its infancy, but it already shows great potential. Here we present an example of a distributed network of telescopes that performs more efficiently in synchronous operation than as individual instruments. RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) is a system of telescopes at LANL that has intelligent intercommunication, combined with wide-field optics, temporal monitoring software, and deep-field follow-up capability all working in closed-loop real-time operation. The Telescope ALert Operations Network (TALON) is a network server that allows intercommunication of alert triggers from external and internal resources and controls the distribution of these to each of the telescopes on the network. TALON is designed to grow, allowing any number of telescopes to be linked together and communicate. Coupled with an intelligent alert client at each telescope, it can analyze and respond to each distributed TALON alert based on the telescopes needs and schedule.

SkyDOT (Sky Database for Objects in the Time Domain): a virtual observatory for variability studies at LANL

The mining of Virtual Observatories (VOs) is becoming a powerful new method for discovery in astronomy. Here we report on the development of SkyDOT (Sky Database for Objects in the Time domain), a new Virtual Observatory, which is dedicated to the study of sky variability. The site will confederate a number of massive variability surveys and enable exploration of the time domain in astronomy. We discuss the architecture of the database and the functionality of the user interface. An important aspect of SkyDOT is that it is continuously updated in near real time so that users can access new observations in a timely manner. The site will also utilize high level machine learning tools that will allow sophisticated mining of the archive. Another key feature is the real time data stream provided by RAPTOR (RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response), a new sky monitoring experiment under construction at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Interconnecting astronomical networks: evolving from single networks to meta-networks

Over the past four years we have seen continued advancement in network technology and how those technologies are beginning to enable astronomical science. Even though some sociological aspects are hindering full cooperation between most observatories and telescopes outside of their academic or institutional connections, an unprecedented step during the summer of 2005 was taken towards creating a world-wide interconnection of astronomical assets. The Telescope Alert Operations Network System (TALONS), a centralized server/client bi-directional network developed and operated by Los Alamos National Laboratory, integrated one of its network nodes with a node from the eScience Telescopes for Astronomical Research (eSTAR), a peer-to-peer agent based network developed and operated by The University of Exeter. Each network can act independently, providing support for their direct clients, and by interconnection provide local clients with access to; outside telescope systems, software tools unavailable locally, and the ability to utilize assets far more efficiently, thereby enabling science on a world-wide scale. In this paper we will look at the evolution of these independent networks into the worlds first heterogeneous telescope network and where this may take astronomy in the future. We will also examine those key elements necessary to providing universal communication between diverse astronomical networks.