Thinking Telescopes,
RAPTOR,
and GRB Follow-up
by
Tom Vestrand
Los Alamos National
Laboratory
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Goal is to Integrate Three Components
Robotic
Hardware
Wide-Field Sky
Monitoring
Rapid Response
Telescopes,
Real Time Pipeline
Machine Learning
Context Knowledge
GENIE,
ML Classifiers,
Anomaly Detection
Record of
Sky variability
(Virtual Observatories),
Massive Distributed
Disk Array
Thinking Telescopes
An Engine for Discovery
in the Time Domain
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Thinking Telescope Objectives
• Find fast transients, distinguish foreground
from celestial sources
• Monitoring of persistent sources for important
changes in real time
• Machine learning merged with real time
context information
• Anomaly detection, automated classification
• “find more like this”
• Learn to optimize telescope network
response, respond in real time
• System Adaptability; Querying the Sky
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
RAPTOR design approach
• Must be a full system capable of both
finding and following-up transients
• Modular, scalable, techniques
• COTS (commercial off-the-shelf)
components
• Distributed aperture approach
• Must be robust, not requiring optimal
imaging and tuning
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Raptor: Sky Monitoring with Both Eyes Open
• Wide-field imaging system monitors
~1300 square-deg with resolution ~35
arcsec and limiting magnitude of
R~13th in 60 seconds. ( like the rod
cells of the retina )
• Each array has a “fovea” telescope
with limiting magnitude of R~16.5
(60 sec), resolution of ~7 arcsec and
Gunn g (or r) filter. Provides color,
better resolution, and faster cadence
light curves (cone cells of fovea)
• Rapidly slewing mount places the
“fovea” anywhere in the field in <3
seconds. (rapid eye movement).
• Two identical arrays are separated by
~38 km. (stereoscopic vision)
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Memory and Context
http://skydot.lanl.gov
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Machine Learning
• Automated identification of artifacts and
transients in direct and difference images.
• Automated classification of celestial
objects based on temporal and spectral
properties.
• Real time recognition of important
deviations from normal behavior for
persistent sources.
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
Taxonomy of GRB Optical
Emission in three classes
• Prompt Optical Emission varying
simultaneously with prompt gammarays.
• Early Afterglow Emission that may start
during prompt gamma-rays, but persists
after gamma-rays fade.
• Late Afterglow Emission that can last for
hours to days.
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
In the Standard Theoretical
Framework it makes sense to
attribute the components to
• Prompt optical emission is generated by
internal shocks in ejecta---driven by engine.
• Early afterglow is a reverse shock driven into
ejecta by interaction with surroundings.
• Late afterglow is generated by forward
external shocks driven into surrounding
medium.
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
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2nd Zwicky Workshop
Conclusions: What one needs to
search for fast optical transients
•
•
•
•
Ability to filter false positives robustly
Real time follow-up
Rank follow-up priorities
Configure the response to optimize
scientific yield, networking of telescopes
• All this must be autonomously without a
human in the loop.
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop
vestrand
2nd Zwicky Workshop