Rapid, deep GRB observations with the U.S. Naval Observatory 1.3-m wide-field telescope.

An automated, wide-field, 1.3-m aperture optical telescope was recently commissioned at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station. Employing a multifilter camera with six SITe 2048×4096 CCDs, it has a field of view of approximately 1.4°×1.0° with 0.6″ pixelization. It is capable of imaging at V=21 mag with S/N=10 in less than 20 s of integration. While it will be employed primarily for astrometric observations, it is planned to be used also for GRB counterpart searches. The combination of automated operation, moderate aperture, large field of view, and small pixelization should allow for systematic and deeper searches than have previously been attempted, for example, of LOCBURST positions. Examination of GRB localizations that are not x-ray selected may reveal new counterpart properties. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]