WE PROPOSE RAPID AND ROBOTIC MULTICOLOR IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY OF GRB AFTERGLOWS ON THE PALOMAR 60-INCH TELESCOPE. ROBOTIC SPECTROSCOPY IS AVAILABLE ON THE FULLY PROVEN SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION MACHINE (A LOW RESOLUTION INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROGRAPH). OUR ANNUAL YIELD IS EXPECTED TO BE TEN MULTI-BAND PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS AND FIVE REDSHIFTS. WE WILL DISSEMINATE THESE FINDINGS QUICKLY AND THEREBY ENABLE WIDER FOLLOW UP OF SWIFT BURSTS. THE GOALS OF OUR GROUP ARE: (I) PROVIDE AUTOMATED RAPID SPECTROSCOPY ENABLING IMMEDIATE REDSHIFT MEASUREMENT AND SENSITIVE CONSTRAINTS ON THE COLOR EVOLUTION OF GRBS; (II) RAPIDLY IDENTIFY HIGH-REDSHIFT AND DUST-OBSCURED GRBS; (III) IDENTIFY REVERSE SHOCKS AND CONSTRAIN ENERGETICS OF GRBS; (IV) COLLECT UNBIASED SAMPLES FOR DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY.

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators