The Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System in the multi-messenger astronomy era

TL;DR

The BOOTES network is a global robotic telescope system developed over 24 years, enabling multi-messenger astronomy by following up on high-energy transient events and integrating neutrino and gravitational wave observations.

Contribution

This paper details the development and achievements of the BOOTES network and discusses its role in multi-messenger astrophysics in the era of neutrino and gravitational wave detection.

Findings

BOOTES has become the first global network of robotic telescopes in all continents.

The network has successfully contributed to follow-up observations of high-energy transients.

Discussion of future expectations in multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy.

Abstract

The Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES) was first designed as an asset of autonomous telescopes that started to be deployed in 1998, taking 24 years to be fully developed around the Earth. Nowadays BOOTES has became a global network of robotic telescopes, being the first one present in all continents, as of 2022. Here we present the details of the network and review its achievements over the last two decades regarding follow-up observations of high-energy transient events. Moreover, considering the recent operations of neutrino and gravitational wave detectors, some hot-topic expectations related to robotic astronomy are discussed within the framework of multi-wavelength astrophysics.