BOOTES-3 a major boost for New Zealand astronomy

Thursday, 26 February 2009, 4:58 pm
Press Release: Science Media Centre

SMC Alert
26/02/09

BOOTES-3 a major boost for New Zealand astronomy

New Zealand astronomers will seek a glimpse of the universe's first generation of stars using BOOTES-3, a new gamma-ray telescope to be opened in Blenheim tomorrow.

A joint Spanish-New Zealand astronomy project that adds to the BOOTES telescope network, the telescope nestled amid grapevines at Vintage Lane Observatory will scour the sky for evidence of gamma-ray bursts.

The electromagnetic radiation created by massive events in space, such as the death of stars billions of light years away, will be detected by the telescope.

The Science Media Centre asked astronomers to comment on the significance of the BOOTES-3 launch.

To download background material on BOOTES-3, registered journalists can log-in to the SMC Resource Library. The SMC will be present at tomorrow's launch and will make available photos in the SMC Resource Library.

Associate Professor Philip Yock of the University of Auckland's Department of Physics said:

"NASA recently launched the Fermi spacecraft that only last week detected the highest energy astrophysical explosion ever (GRB 080916C).  With the new robotic telescope supplied by Spain, New Zealand will be in an ideal position to monitor the afterglows of future explosions in the southern sky, and learn more about these incredible events, and about the first generation of stars that formed after the big bang - thank you Spain!"
 
Dr Grant Christie, Research Astronomer at Stardome Observatory said:
 
Scientific Significance:
"One of the most active and exciting areas of astronomy today is understanding how the first stars formed in the young Universe. There is evidence this occurred just 200 million years after the Big Bang when the Universe was less than 2% of its current age of 13.7 billion years. No objects from this era have yet been detected. The primary mission for the BOOTES-3 telescope is to study the death of this first generation of stars and to learn something of the conditions existing in the Universe at this very early epoch.
 
"While much too faint to see directly, these first stars should be detected when they die, detonating in a titanic explosion called a 'gamma-ray burst' and creating a new black hole.  Gamma-ray bursts are detected by special satellites that instantly notify earth-based telescopes of the position of the event in the sky. The new BOOTES-3 telescope, capable of responding within seconds, will immediately start recording the optical light from the explosion. The data obtained can be used to determine the distance, the energy released and much more about environment of the star.
 
"The advantage offered by this new advanced technology telescope is its speed, being able to begin studying the events within only seconds of the blast being detected from space. By being able to see how the explosion develops over those crucial first few minutes, we hope to be able to piece together a more complete picture of these first stars.
 
"Another science goal is to search for planets orbiting distant stars within our own Milky Way galaxy. This is also a new and very rapidly advancing field of astronony as astronomers  seek to understand what stars have planets, how those planets formed and how they changed over time.  We will be using a new technique that has proved to be particularly effective at detecting planets, planets that cannot be found any other way. Of special interest will be planets found in the zone around their stars where the conditions allow liquid water to exist. Astronomers call this the 'Goldilocks zone' because the conditions are just right for life to exist - not too hot and not too cold."
 
Significance to New Zealand:
"This project connects New Zealand astronomers with a team of Spanish astronomers who have already made very significant contributions to understanding gamma-ray bursts. We learn a great deal from their experience in operating robotic telescopes which we expect to apply to other New Zealand telescopes in the future.
 
"The Blenheim region was chosen for its lower cloud cover.  The advantage offered by New Zealand is that we are on exactly the opposite side of the globe from Spain where the other two BOOTES telescopes are currently operating. Ultimately it is hoped to add more telescopes to the BOOTES network with observatories strategically located around the globe.
 
Dr Ian Bond, lecturer at Massey University's Institute for Information and Mathematical Sciences said:

"From a personal point of view this telescope launch is significant because I worked on my PhD on a previous Japan/NZ project at nearby Black Birch and I spent 3 years passing through and visiting Blenheim - it is nice to return there again.
 
"I think this is also significant is the increasing interest from the international community in pursuing astronomical research in New Zealand - not just in terms of real-estate but also because of the talent of New Zealand based scientists who can contribute. The Japan/NZ MOA project at Lake Tekapo is another example.
 
"From a scientific point of view, this telescope provides a new opportunity for us engage in one of the cutting edge projects in astronomy - the study of gamma ray bursts. I am particularly excited at the prospects of being amongst the first to observe the first generation of stars to form in the Universe."
 
Alan Gilmore, Superintendent - Mt John University Observatory said:
 
"As far as the I know the BOOTES telescope is one of the largest instruments to be applied to the rapid follow-up of gamma ray bursts (GRBs).
 
"Though GRBs have been detected by satellites since the 1960s, the optical counterparts were only seen from ~1997 onward. The problem was in developing technology to provide wide-field sharp images of the x-rays that follow the gamma rays.
 
"Before the first optical counterparts (usually optical transients or OTs) were seen, and their light analysed, there were many different theories as to the origin of GRBs. Once spectra of OTs were analysed it was obvious that they were at immense cosmological distances.
 
"As far as I know, till recently most of the fast-acting cameras were relatively small: camera arrays with lenses ~100 mm diameter or so. The BOOTES telescope has a 60 cm mirror and can swing onto the region indicated by a satellite within seconds of receiving the satellite's detection information.
 
"A downside is that the latest GRB satellite, NASA's Fermi spacecraft, though extremely sensitive gives much less precise positional information than the earlier Swift and HETE spacecraft. (The best Swift positions are defined to seconds of arc.  HETE gave positions to half a degree or so. Fermi defines the direction to an area several degrees across, I understand.) 
 
"New Zealand has earlier played a role in GRB detections. At Mt John, Pam Kilmartin and I were the first to identify the OT for a GRB on March 23, 2003.  We followed that up with another a month later April 29.  We also got one last year (but I can't quickly find the documentation.) MOA have also followed up GRBs with their 1.8-metre telescope."

ends

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