A robotic telescope that the University of the Free State (UFS) has involvement in is set to have far-reaching benefits in the field of science and technology, while enabling the institution to expand its international research footprint.
The telescope, known as BOOTES 6 (a burst observer and optical transient exploring system) is situated at the Boyden Observatory at Maselspoort, outside Bloemfontein. Focusing on measuring the brightness of transient sources, it is Boyden’s second robotic telescope.
The Astrophysics research group in the Department of Physics at the UFS has collaborated with the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA) in Spain. The main scientific objective is to observe and monitor the optic counterparts of gamma-ray bursts as quickly as possible when detected from space or other ground-based observatories.
Prof. Pieter Meintjes, professor of Physics and head of the Astrophysics Programme in the Department of Physics at the UFS, said they would use the telescope to observe cosmic X-ray sources that seem to appear in the sky for a short time before disappearing.
He believes the telescope will enable a more complete and better understanding of the universe.
“Since BOOTES has an enormously fast slew rate, it can start observations of erupting sources within a few seconds, which allows the research group to get data very quickly. This will give us an edge over other international astronomy groups involved in the same type of research,” said Meintjes, coordinator of the project locally.
He explained the importance of monitoring these packets of energy.
“By observing the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray bursts, we can establish its point of origin in space. Furthermore, the shape of the optical afterglow light curve gives insight into the type of mechanism behind the gamma-ray burst – whether the burst is produced by a collision between two neutron stars or by the explosion of a hypernova event.”
As local custodians of the project and in terms of a memorandum of understanding, the UFS Astrophysics Research Group is guaranteed a certain amount of telescope time for its in-house observation programmes.
