Physics & Astronomy

The Remote Observatory for Variable Object Research (ROVOR) is a 16" RC Optical telescope sited 12 miles NW of Delta Utah. It has been built to remotely monitor bright objects that vary with time such as variable stars, cataclysmic variables, and active galactic nuclei (AGN) including blazars, quasars, Seyfert nuclei and Low Ionization Nuclear Emission Regions (LINERS). The standard model of AGN is a supermassive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk and a more extensive lower-density region that feeds material to the disk. The disk presumably brightens and dims as gas falls upon it and as dusty clouds orbiting around it obscure it from our view. Optical variability provides a measure of these effects and provides data that can be used to model the specific nature of different AGN. ROVOR has also recently become a member of the GCN community - the Gamma-ray Burst Coordination Network - to monitor the activity of gamma-ray bursts. These bursts are extremely short energetic events that occur in distant galaxies. Even though ROVOR is not a gamma-ray detector, these bursts leave longer lasting afterglows that can be seen in the optical region of light. This is a new and exciting project for ROVOR.

ROVOR News:

2009-06-01	ROVOR was operating on 29 May 2009UT, one of the few clear nights of the past couple of weeks. The FERMI satellite located GRB 090529B and ROVOR was searching for the afterglow an hour later. No detection was found due to a large uncertainty in the location. The data was reported as GCN 9477.
2009-05-15	15 May 2009 UT was another successful robotic run for ROVOR. GRB 090515 was observed 37.7 minutes after the SWIFT trigger was reported. No burst afterglow was located, but the 1.2 hours worth of data was reported and received as GCN Circ. 9371.
2009-05-15	30 April 2009 UT was another robotic run where ROVOR observed GRB 090429A at 22 hours after outburst. A GCN Circular was submitted and received -- GCN Circ. 9318.
2009-04-01	First Robotic run! We obtained clear band images of several Virgo cluster galaxies. Image length was 60 seconds, CCD binned 2x2 with readout time of 12 seconds. We worked in clear because the filter wheel power supply failed.