Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires

TAROTThe 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

Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires

Name: Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires
Site: La Silla
Altitude: 2375 m
Enclosure: Double sliding roof
Type: Robotic optical telescope
Optical design: Hyperbolic Newtonian reflector
Diameter. Primary M1: 0.25 m
Material. Primary M1: Schott N-SK16
Diameter. Secondary M2: 0.14 m
Material. Secondary M2: Schott N-SK16
Diameter. Tertiary M3: None
Mount: Equatorial fork mount
First Light date: 9 September 2006
Images taken with TAROT: Link
Images of TAROT: Link
Videos of TAROT: Link
Press releases with the TAROT: Link