Abstract and subjects
The RAPTOR system (RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response) is an array of several distributed robotic telescopes that automatically respond to GCN localization alerts. Raptor-S is a 0.4-m telescope with 24 arc min. field of view employing a 1k x 1k Marconi CCD detector and has already detected prompt optical emission from several GRBs within the first minute of the explosion. We present a real-time data analysis and alert system for automated identification of optical transients in Raptor-S GRB response data down to the sensitivity limit of similar to 19 mag. Our custom data processing pipeline is designed to minimize the time required to reliably identify transients and extract actionable information. The system utilizes a networked PostgreSQL database server for catalog access and distributes email alerts with successful detections.