OBSERVATIONS OF TRANSIENT EVENTS WITH MINI-MEGATORTORA WIDE-FIELD MONITORING SYSTEM WITH SUB-SECOND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION

Abstract

Here we present the summary of operation of a novel 9-channel wide-field optical monitoring system with subsecond temporal resolution, Mini-MegaTORTORA, which systematically surveys the sky since 2014 at Special Astrophysical Observatory on Russian Caucasus. The system is able to observe the sky simultaneously in either wide (∼900 square degrees) or narrow (∼100 square degrees fields of view, either in clear light or with any combination of color (Johnson-Cousins B, V or R) and polarimetric filters installed, with exposure times ranging from 0.1 s to hundreds of seconds. The real-time system data analysis pipeline performs automatic detection of rapid transient events, both near-Earth and extragalactic. The objects routinely detected by Mini-MegaTORTORA also include faint meteors and artificial satellites. The imaging survey performed by Mini-MegaTORTORA also allows to look for a slower variability of various kinds of objects.