SGER: A Search for Optical Counterparts of Gamma Ray Burstswith the Automated Patrol Telescope

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Form 10 Abstract Proposal: AST 97-14369 PI: Saul Perlmutter Institution: University of California, Berkeley This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) is for a rapid response search for gamma ray burst (GRB) optical emission, using the 0.5 m Automated Patrol Telescope in Australia. Searches are triggered by an alert from the BACODINE network, which receives signals from the BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory spacecraft when a GRB is detected. The telescope is already under Internet and computer control, but further work is necessary to automate the search fully, by automating the roof, lens cover, etc. Observations already made of the GRBs of 970326.6, 970329, and 970616 will be published, as well as a study of background optical transient rates in large-area, very deep images taken as part of a Supernova Cosmology Project.