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India’s First Robotic Eye for Time-domain Astrophysics: The GROWTH-India Telescope
Journal
Astronomical Journal
ISSN
00046256
Date Issued
2022-09-01
Author(s)
Kumar, Harsh
Bhalerao, Varun
Anupama, G. C.
Barway, Sudhanshu
Basu, Judhajeet
Deshmukh, Kunal
De, Kishalay
Dutta, Anirban
Fremling, Christoffer
Iyer, Hrishikesh
Jassani, Adeem
Joharle, Simran
Karambelkar, Viraj
Khandagale, Maitreya
Krishna, K. Adithya
Kulkarni, Sumeet
Mate, Sujay
Patil, Atharva
Phanindra, DVS
Samantaray, Subham
Sharma, Kritti
Sharma, Yashvi
Shenoy, Vedant
Singh, Avinash
Srivastava, Shubham
Swain, Vishwajeet
Waratkar, Gaurav
Angchuk, Dorje
Dorjay, Padma
Dorjai, Tsewang
Gyalson, Tsewang
Jorphail, Sonam
Mahay, Tashi Thsering
Norbu, Rigzin
Sharma, Tarun Kumar
Stanzin, Jigmet
Stanzin, Tsewang
Stanzin, Urgain
Abstract
We present the design and performance of the GROWTH-India telescope, a 0.7 m robotic telescope dedicated to time-domain astronomy. The telescope is equipped with a 4k back-illuminated camera that gives a 0.°82 field of view and a sensitivity of m g′ ∼ 20.5 in 5 minute exposures. Custom software handles observatory operations: attaining high on-sky observing efficiencies (≳80%) and allowing rapid response to targets of opportunity. The data processing pipelines are capable of performing point-spread function photometry as well as image subtraction for transient searches. We also present an overview of the GROWTH-India telescope’s contributions to the studies of gamma-ray bursts, the electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources, supernovae, novae, and solar system objects.