The First Light of Mini-MegaTORTORA Wide-Field Monitoring System

Abstract

We describe the first light of a new 9-channel wide-field optical monitoring system with sub-second temporal resolution, Mini-MegaTORTORA, which is being tested now at the Special Astrophysical Observatory in Russian Caucasus. The system is able to observe the sky simultaneously in either wide (~900 deg2) or narrow (~100 deg2) fields of view, either in clear light or with any combination of color (Johnson B, V or R) and polarimetric filters installed, with exposure times ranging from 100 ms to 100 s. The primary goal of the system is the detection of rapid (with sub-second characteristic time scales) optical transients, but it may be also used for studying variability of sky objects over longer time scales.

Keywords

• instrumentation: photometers
• methods: observational
• techniques: photometric