The BOOTES experiment in support of the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) in the study of the high energy Universe

Abstract

A GTC target of opportunity program (ToO) for gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglows will be a very powerful tool for studying the primitive Universe. Photometry and spectroscopy of GRBs are very suitable for tracing the star formation rate of the Universe at high redshifts (prompt optical and near-infrared observations with the GTC could detect GRBs to z < 17; Castro-Tirado et al., this volume, p. 252; Gorosabel et al., this volume, p. 288). BOOTES (Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System) can very ecien tly support a ToO at the GTC through its robotized, extremely fast response capabilities. In this paper, we discuss the ongoing eort to nalize a real time, online, automatic data analysis system for BOOTES. Such a system will be able to provide early, reliable, and accurate GRB positions (conrmed by satellite) to trigger a GTC ToO.