Abstract
Our project aims to identify the physical nature of gamma-ray burst (GRB) emission via measurement of the optical spectral shape of this emission during the prompt phase, usually lasting up to 70 sec. These measurements require a fast-moving optical telescope and instrumentation to respond autonomously to real-time GRB alerts. The Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope at Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory (NUTTellA-TAO) has a 0.7 m aperture and can point anywhere above the local horizon in 8 seconds. We receive GRB Alerts via an internet socket connection to the Gamma Coordinates Network (GCN) at the telescope site. We measure the GRB prompt optical emission with the Burst Simultaneous Three-Channel Imager (BSTI), which incorporates 3 EMCCD cameras, at Sloan g', r', and i' bands, for simultaneous high time-resolution imaging as fast as a few hundred milliseconds per frame. NUTTellA-TAO is a fully automated telescope. In 2020 and 2023, we observed GRB afterglow starting from 58 and 41 seconds after the BAT trigger. It is the earliest afterglow optical observation with three filters simultaneously.