MITSuME--Multicolor Imaging Telescopes for Survey and Monstrous Explosions

TL;DR

MITSuME is a set of robotic multi-color telescopes designed for rapid observation of gamma-ray burst counterparts and high-redshift objects, featuring optical and infrared capabilities with wide fields of view.

Contribution

This paper reports the development and current status of MITSuME, a novel multi-color robotic telescope system for rapid astrophysical observations.

Findings

Two 50-cm optical telescopes with CCD cameras for simultaneous g'RcIc photometry.

A 91-cm IR telescope for YJHK band photometry with a 1-degree field of view.

Capability to start observations within a minute of a GRB alert.

Abstract

Development of MITSuME is reported. Two 50-cm optical telescopes have been built at Akeno in Yamanashi prefecture and at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory (OAO) in Okayama prefecture. Three CCD cameras for simultaneous g'RcIc photometry are to be mounted on each focal plane, covering a wide FOV of about 30" x 30". The limiting magnitude at V is fainter than 18. In addition to these two optical telescopes, a 91-cm IR telescope with a 1 deg x 1 deg field of view is being built at OAO, which performs photometry in YJHK bands. These robotic telescopes can start the observation of counterparts of a GRB within a minute from an alert. We aim to obtain photometric redshifts exceeding 10 with these telescopes. The performance and the current construction status of the telescopes are presented.