Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires
The 25 cm TAROT (Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires—Rapid Action Telescope for Transient Objects) is a very fast moving optical robotic telescope on La Silla. It is able to react very quickly to a signal from a satellite indicating that a gamma-ray burst is in progress and can provide fast and accurate positions of transient events within seconds. The data from the TAROT telescope will also be useful for studying the evolution of bursts, the physics of the fireball and of the surrounding material.
Similar TAROT telescopes are located at the Calern Observatory, near Nice, at Les Makes Observatory at la Réunion and in New Caledonia, France. Both are operated by a consortium led by Alain Klotz (Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, University Paul Sabatier, France).
TAROT was used along with a variety of other telescopes to discover that the seven planets orbiting the nearby ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could potentially hold more water than Earth.
Science goals
Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) follow-up
Links
- For more information please read the Messenger article.
Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires
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