EXPLANATION: Exoplanet and Transient Event Investigation Project—Optical Facilities and Solutions

Abstract

Over the past decades, the achievements in astronomical instrumentation have given rise to a number of novel advanced studies related to the analysis of large arrays of observational data. One of the most famous of these studies is a study of transient events in the near and far space and a search for exoplanets. The main requirements for such kinds of projects are a simultaneous coverage of the largest possible field of view with the highest possible detection limits and temporal resolution. In this study, we present a similar project aimed at creating an extensive, continuously updated survey of transient events and exoplanets. To date, the core of the project incorporates several 0.07–2.5 m optical telescopes and the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of RAS (Russia), a number of other Russian observatories and the Bonhyunsan observatory of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (South Korea). Our attention is mainly focused on the description of two groups of small, wide-angle optical telescopes for primary detection. All the telescopes are originally designed for the goals of the project and may be of interest to the scientific community. A description is also given for a new, high-precision optical spectrograph for the Doppler studies of transient and exoplanet events detected within the project. We present here the philosophy, expectations and first results obtained during the first year of running the project.

SAINT (Small Aperture Imaging Network Telescope)—A Wide-Field Telescope Complex for Detecting and Studying Optical Transients at Times from Milliseconds to Years

“…About 20 such objects, which erupted about 200 times, were found among the almost 800 bursts proper. Their coordinates were determined, which made it possible to observe the regions of localization of these sources using large telescopes (see, for example, [60,61]), in which optical flares were not detected-the same result was obtained by us with a 6-meter telescope [62]. Gravitational wave events can also be accompanied by optical flares ranging from a few milliseconds to a few seconds, especially when they come from merging neutron stars, like the recently discovered event GW 170817 [63,64].…”

“…It is all the more important to look for signatures of similar phenomena in the optical range using wide-angle monitoring of high temporal resolution. Based on the above considerations, and on the experience of developing and using the FAVOR, TORTORA, Mini-MegaTORTORA tools, we proposed the concept of a multi-telescope complex with high temporal resolution for wide-angle monitoring of the celestial sphere-SAINT (Small Aperture Imaging Network Telescope) [62,[66][67][68] using telescopes with a diameter of 30-50 cm, with the limiting magnitude at the level of single-component instruments (see Figure 1 and Table A1 in the Appendix A) and capable of detecting and investigating non-stationary objects at times from milliseconds to months-years. This paper is devoted to the development of this project using modern devices, the choice of the design of the complex, its components, mode of operation, and the assessment of its parameters.…”