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Image of M8, taken by the AEOS Burst Camera

Heather Swan Physics Department University of Michigan Carl Akerlof, Timothy McKay, Eli Rykoff, Donald Smith, U of Michigan Mark Skinner, Andrew Alday, Kevin Moore, Boeing LTS. Measuring Fast Spectral Variability of. GRB Early Afterglows with the. AEOS Burst Camera. Image of M8, taken by

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Image of M8, taken by the AEOS Burst Camera

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  1. Heather Swan Physics Department University of Michigan Carl Akerlof, Timothy McKay, Eli Rykoff, Donald Smith, U of Michigan Mark Skinner, Andrew Alday, Kevin Moore, Boeing LTS Measuring Fast Spectral Variability of GRB Early Afterglows with the AEOS Burst Camera Image of M8, taken by the AEOS Burst Camera 1

  2. Outline • Why? • What is the AEOS and ABC? • GRB response • Data and simulations

  3. GRB 030418 was dimmer than expected at early times Circum-burst absorbs optical light if we could see the spectrum, we would expect to see red -> blue Optical lightcurve First image ~76s after g-rays

  4. GRB 990123 was brighter than expected at early times Relativistic fireball – example of a reverse shock if we could see the spectrum, we would expect to see blue ->red Optical lightcurve g-rays were still emitting for first few images

  5. Swift’s BAT error box is the perfect size for the ABC 90% will be localized to a 3 arc minute radius (Can see them with the ABC) 50% will be localized within 12 seconds (Can see them promptly) (From Fenimore, et al)

  6. The AEOS telescope is a large optical telescope used by the Air Force Advanced Electro-Optical Systems Telescope (AEOS) Largest ground based AF optical telescope (3.67m) Designed to track satellites, can quickly (~20 sec) slew to coordinates Located in Haleakala, Hawaii, at 10,000 ft ABC 6

  7. The AEOS Burst Camera (ABC) is attached to the AEOS • Optics designed by Carl Akerlof • Package designed by Alan Schier • Camera built by Astronomical Research Cameras Field of view 6' x 6' Focal length of 15.5m 9 ToO observations / year Limiting Mag ~22nd for 10 sec exposure

  8. GRB Swift ABC Computers (Modified ROTSE Software) User Interface GCN Burst Filter Fax ::::::: ::::::: CD The ABC will try to observe GRBs within minutes after they are localized

  9. No prompt response yet… • GRB needs to be < 1 hour old and visible in Maui • The few that have been attempted • Bad weather • Bad pointing • Several test bursts have been sent • Responses between 1 and 10 minutes • One was caught during testing (030329) • Images taken several days after the event GRB 030329

  10. A diffraction grating was recently installed on the ABC • Low resolving power (8) • Installed Jan ’05 A light bulb viewed through the grating, and a star….

  11. Simulations of the grating are similar to what is seen Blackbody, sun’s temp 1st 0th 2nd higher orders Image from ABC of a star The blaze angle was chosen so most of the light would be in the 1st order

  12. We can differentiate between blue and red stars Cooler temps Hotter temps Simulations of different temperature blackbodies

  13. We can differentiate between different types of objects Quasar Star Symbiotic binary

  14. In summary, the ABC is up and running, we’re just waiting for a GRB • The ABC can quickly and deeply observe GRBs • First image within minutes of GRB detection • Small 6’ x 6’ field of view • Deep (22nd mag) images with 10s exposures • The ABC has a diffraction grating • Will get early spectral information for GRBs Questions?

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