The Zadko Telescope: A Southern Hemisphere Telescope for Optical
  Transient Searches, Multi-Messenger Astronomy and Education
  The new 1-m f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 about 70
km north of Perth, Western Australia. It is the only metre-class optical
facility at this southern latitude between the east coast of Australia and
South Africa, and can rapidly image optical transients at a longitude not
monitored by other similar facilities. We report on first imaging tests of a
pilot program of minor planet searches, and Target of Opportunity observations
triggered by the Swift satellite. In 12 months, 6 gamma-ray burst afterglows
were detected, with estimated magnitudes; two of them, GRB 090205 (z = 4.65)
and GRB 090516 (z = 4.11), are among the most distant optical transients imaged
by an Australian telescope. Many asteroids were observed in a systematic
3-month search. In September 2009, an automatic telescope control system was
installed, which will be used to link the facility to a global robotic
telescope network; future targets will include fast optical transients
triggered by highenergy satellites, radio transient detections, and LIGO
gravitational wave candidate events. We also outline the importance of the
facility as a potential tool for education, training, and public outreach.
