Study of Transients at BOAO

As a new way to explore the universe, astronomers are now performing time-domain astronomy by surveying the universe looking for new transient phenomena and taking movies of the universe with telescopes. Large-area, time-series survey of astronomical objects are uncovering many interesting, fast-changing objects that have now been poorly understood before, such as GRBs, tidal disruption phenomena, and new types of supernova. In order to characterize these new, exciting events, it is very critical to perform follow-up observations, and 1-2m telescopes can effectively contribute to such efforts. Since 2007, our group has been performing follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and interesting transients using BOAO and other KASI facilities. Here, we present results from several key transient studies that were done by using BOAO: (1) tidal disruption event Swift J1644+57; (2) SN 2011fe that occurred in M101; and (3) several GRB events. These study demonstrates the usefulness of BOAO as a powerful transient follow-up facility. Finally, we will discuss how BOAO research activities can possibly be bolstered in this newly emerging field of astronomy.