BART—burst alert robotic telescope

The design and current progress in development of the first Ondřejov Burst Alert Robotic Telescope (BART) are discussed. The system is based on inexpensive commercially available parts to be easily duplicated at other astronomical observatories. The main scientific goal is to join this robotic telescope in project BACODINE, which processes data from the BATSE experiment onboard the Gamma Ray Observatory. This satellite detects gamma ray bursts which nature is still unknown. The telescope will receive messages about these events via an Internet connection, analyze them and automatically investigate their positions at selected optical wavelengths. The BART will be used also in other areas of astronomy especially in search for new celestial objects during its sky patrol program. The system can be used with little modification for other satellite astronomy projects such as HETE and INTEGRAL.