Abstract
We report on the first ~two years of operation of the NUTTelA-TAO (Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope at Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory). The instrument system is designed to respond autonomously, within seconds, to astronomical transient localization alerts, with simultaneous high-time resolution measurements in Sloan g’,r’, and i’ filters. Our primary objective is measurement of the shape of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt optical spectrum by responding to rapid GRB localization alerts during bright y-ray emission. Measurements (detections or upper limits) have been made for 10 Swift-BAT alerts, with 2 very early afterglow detections, starting as early as 10 seconds after alert receipt. The NUTTelA Transient Catalog is available at ecl.nu.edu.kz/ntc. We describe the instrument performance and operational and technical challenges encountered in this experiment, which should inform other automated transient experiments. Overall, the system has performed well technically, but weather at the time of alerts, and possibly limitations of the Swift BAT alert system, have slowed our detection of prompt optical emission. We also describe future plans for improvement and expansion of our program