<title>"Pi of the sky": robotic search for cosmic flashes</title>

Abstract

"Pi of the Sky" is a detector designed for search for optical flashes of cosmic origin in the sky. Its primary goal is to look for optical afterglows associated with the gamma ray bursts (GRB) but it is capable to detect also other optical transients of extragalactic origin. The apparatus consists of two arrays of 16 cameras each, which allow for simultaneous observation of large part of the sky. Thanks to on-line data analysis in real time, it has self-triggering capability and can react to external triggers with negative time delay. The prototype with two cameras has been installed at Las Campanas (Chile) and is operational from July 2004. General idea of experiment, the apparatus and its performance will be presented.