BART: Burst alert robotic telescope

Abstract

The design and current progress in development of the Ondřejov Burst Alert Robotic Telescope (BART) are discussed. The telescope system will provide rapid (<1 min) optical follow-up observations of GRB positions provided by satellites down to magnitude 13 (over a FOV of 20 degr.) and/or 19 (over FOV of 0.3 degr.). The telescope is able to receive e-mail messages about GRB events, provided by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, project BACODINE), analyze them and automatically investigate their positions at selected optical wavelengths. We propose to adapt such a system also for the International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) in the future.