| Abstract: | The operating principles of the telescope-robot system MASTER (Mobile Astronomical System of Telescopes-Robots, http://observ.pereplet.ru), designed to search for fast transient phenomena in the optical range, are described. The robot-telescope includes the following: a Richter-Slefogt telescope with D=355 mm, F/D=2.4, a Richter-Slefogt telescope with D=200 mm, F/D=2.4, a Flugge telescope with D=280 mm, F/D=2.5, a TV camera with a field of 20x40 degrees, and three CCD cameras. A German mount with a slew rate of 8 deg/s is used. MASTER obtains images down to 19m in a field of 6 square degrees in a 1.5 minute exposure. We present some observations of the optical afterglow of cosmic gamma-ray bursts. MASTER was the first system in Europe to record optical emission from GRB030329.__________Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 463–475 (August 2005). |
