Recent GRBs observed with the 1.23m CAHA telescope and the status of its upgrade

TL;DR

This paper reports on optical observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts using the 1.23m Calar Alto telescope, detailing its ongoing upgrade to achieve fully autonomous response capabilities for rapid GRB follow-up.

Contribution

It presents the current status and development progress of the control system upgrade enabling autonomous GRB observations with the 1.23m telescope.

Findings

Preliminary GRB follow-up results obtained during testing.

The telescope can operate in autonomous and supervised modes.

Response times below 3 minutes are targeted for GRB reactions.

Abstract

We report on optical observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) followed up by our collaboration with the 1.23m telescope located at the Calar Alto observatory. The 1.23m telescope is an old facility, currently undergoing upgrades to enable fully autonomous response to GRB alerts. We discuss the current status of the control system upgrade of the 1.23m telescope. The upgrade is being done by the ARAE our group, based on members of IAA (Instituto de Astrofiisica de Andalucia). Currently the ARAE group is responsible to develop the BOOTES network of robotic telescopes based on the Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version (RTS2), which controls the available instruments and interacts with the EPICS database of Calar Alto. Currently the telescope can run fully autonomously or under observer supervision using RTS2. The fast reaction response mode for GRB reaction (typically with response times below 3 minutes from the GRB onset) still needs some development and testing. The telescope is usually operated in legacy interactive mode, with periods of supervised autonomous runs under RTS2. We show the preliminary results of several GRBs followed up with observer intervention during the testing phase of the 1.23m control software upgrade.