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ESO 17/07 - Associated Image
28 March 2007
For Immediate Release
Controlled by Distant Explosions
VLT Automatically Takes Detailed Spectra of Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows Only Minutes After Discovery
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ESO PR Photo 17a/07 The Newly Identified Cluster [Preview - JPEG: 402 x 400 pix - 39k] |
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| Screen shot of the message appearing on the Kueyen (UT2 of ESO's Very Large Telescope) console when the Rapid Response Mode is triggered by a distant explosion. The current observation is terminated and the telescope is preset to the site of the explosion to take spectra. Astronomers at the console can if requested stop the procedure. Otherwise, they just need to align the slit of the spectrograph before the observations can start. The whole procedure lasts a few minutes only. | |
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ESO PR Photo 17b/07 Kueyen ready to observe [Preview - JPEG: 400 x 654 pix - 59k] |
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| The 8.2-m Unit Telescope 2 of ESO's Very Large Telescope, Kueyen, is getting ready to observe. | |
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ESO PR Photo 17c/07 The Control Room of Kueyen [Preview - JPEG: 536 x 400 pix - 72k] |
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| All the telescopes on Paranal are operated from a central control room on the mountain. This photo shows the control desk of Kueyen (UT2) with a Telescope Operator and a Staff Astronomer. | |


