How COLIBRI Watches for the Universe's Biggest Bangs

In the remote heights of the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, where the Baja California desert meets the sky, a scientific marvel quietly awaits its cosmic orders. The San Pedro Mártir National Astronomical Observatory (OAN-SPM), a key outpost of the prestigious UNAM Astronomy Institute (IA), has just become home to an astronomical game-changer. Meet COLIBRÍ: a sophisticated robotic telescope that is poised to revolutionize the way we observe some of the universe’s most mysterious and explosive phenomena—gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

The story of COLIBRÍ is one that intertwines innovation, international cooperation, and the eternal human desire to understand the unknown. A collaboration between Mexican and French institutions, this high-tech instrument brings together the minds of UNAM, the Aix-Marseille University, and major research organizations like France’s National Center for Scientific Research and the National Center for Space Studies. Together, they have created a marvel of observational science capable of detecting GRBs—fleeting, high-energy outbursts that last just milliseconds or, if we’re lucky, a couple of seconds.

These bursts, observed in galaxies billions of light years away, are nothing short of cosmic fireworks. They are the most luminous explosions since the Big Bang itself, sending out streams of gamma rays that race across the universe at the speed of light. The problem? The bursts are so fast and unpredictable that astronomers have traditionally struggled to catch them in the act. By the time a large telescope is pointed toward a GRB, the celestial spectacle may already be over. The window of opportunity closes as quickly as it opens, leaving researchers staring at empty space, wondering what they just missed.

Enter COLIBRÍ, a telescope with an agility and precision that makes it the perfect partner in the GRB-hunting game. It is equipped with a 1.3-meter main mirror and a fully robotic system that enables it to react in real-time to alerts about gamma-ray bursts. But COLIBRÍ’s true genius lies in its ability to respond to these alerts in just over a minute, a breakneck speed by astronomical standards.

To truly understand why this is such a big deal, imagine the following scenario: in a galaxy millions or even billions of light years away, an ancient star collapses into a black hole. This catastrophic event generates a powerful flash of gamma rays that streaks across the universe. Aboard a satellite recently launched as part of a joint effort between France and China—the Space Variable Object Monitor (SVOM)—sensors detect the burst in real time. Within moments, the SVOM satellite sends an alert to Earth. Now, here’s where the magic happens: that alert is picked up by a network of antennas, including three strategically placed in Mexico at UNAM facilities in Baja California, Jalisco, and Yucatán. The message travels swiftly to COLIBRÍ, which pivots and locks onto the exact spot in the sky where the burst occurred. In just one minute and 20 seconds, the telescope’s instruments are in position, ready to observe the afterglow of this faraway cosmic event.

This kind of real-time response is crucial because gamma-ray bursts, while short-lived in the gamma spectrum, continue to emit light in the visible and infrared wavelengths for hours, or sometimes days, after the initial explosion. By moving quickly, COLIBRÍ can capture that fleeting afterglow, providing scientists with precious data about an event that took place light years away. And it does all of this automatically, without the need for human intervention—just like its namesake, the hummingbird, darting through the sky with effortless speed and precision.

The beauty of the COLIBRÍ project lies not only in its technical sophistication but also in its international collaboration. It is a testament to the fact that no single nation holds the monopoly on scientific discovery. Instead, this venture highlights the global nature of research, where Mexico’s high-altitude observatories work hand-in-hand with European and Asian satellites, united by a shared goal: to peer deeper into the cosmos than ever before.

At the heart of the COLIBRÍ project is William Lee Alardín, a researcher at UNAM’s IA and head of the Coordination of International Relations and Affairs (CRAI) at the university. A seasoned advocate for international collaboration, Lee Alardín has been instrumental in bringing this ambitious project to life. “It is a new robotic telescope,” he explains with understated pride, “which will be able to respond, in an automated way, to alerts it receives. It was designed in conjunction with colleagues from France.” His words underscore the unique marriage of Mexican and French expertise that has brought this nimble telescope into existence.

COLIBRI Captures Cosmic Explosions

Its swiftness is its signature. As UNAM astronomer William Lee Alardín proudly notes, this compact machine, despite weighing several tons, can swivel to any point in the night sky in just 20 seconds. To put that into perspective, it's like a sumo wrestler performing pirouettes with the grace of a ballerina. The telescope’s agility isn’t just for show—it's a fundamental necessity in a cosmos where events like gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. While many telescopes might lumber toward their target only to find the celestial phenomenon has already fizzled out, COLIBRÍ is designed to arrive fashionably early—or at least on time.

The analogy to its avian namesake, the hummingbird, is particularly fitting. Much like the tiny bird that flits through the air at breakneck speeds, making sharp turns and hovering with almost supernatural control, the COLIBRÍ telescope embodies speed and dexterity. But it's not just about how fast it moves. COLIBRÍ's other remarkable feature is its expansive field of view. In a single exposure, it can cover a large swath of the sky, which is crucial when you're looking for something as ephemeral as a gamma-ray burst. It's not enough to be fast; you also have to see broadly, and COLIBRÍ does both with aplomb.

This technological prowess is the result of a deep synergy between satellite observations and ground-based instruments, honed through years of collaboration between Mexico and France. At the heart of this telescope is a finely-tuned dance between the satellite and COLIBRÍ, where one spots a gamma-ray burst and the other springs into action to observe it in visible and infrared light. It’s like a celestial relay race, with the baton passed between space and Earth, the final sprint to the finish line completed by COLIBRÍ’s incredibly sensitive cameras.

Another of COLIBRÍ’s superpowers. The telescope boasts not one but two specialized cameras: one designed to detect visible light, lovingly assembled at UNAM by local experts, and another, an infrared detector, contributed by their French counterparts. The partnership between these two countries goes beyond the physical hardware—it’s a melding of scientific minds and ambitions, working together to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos.

And why two cameras, you ask? The answer lies in the multi-layered nature of the universe. Visible light is great for observing many types of cosmic phenomena, but if you want to peer into the very distant past—when galaxies were still forming, when the first stars were dying in spectacular supernovae, or when gamma-ray bursts erupted in the early universe—you need to look in infrared. The farther away an object is, the more its light shifts to longer, redder wavelengths due to the expansion of the universe, and infrared is where these ancient objects reveal their secrets.

The infrared detector is particularly thrilling to astronomers because it opens a window to the universe’s distant past. As William Lee Alardín explains, it allows COLIBRÍ to detect some of the oldest objects in existence, such as gamma-ray bursts from the early days of galaxy formation. In this sense, the telescope is not just a tool for catching fast, violent events; it's also a time machine, capturing light that has traveled billions of years to reach us. For scientists, observing these ancient phenomena is like holding a cosmic archaeology dig—a chance to study the universe as it was in its youth, in the chaotic and fiery period when galaxies were taking shape.

COLIBRÍ is not just limited to gamma-ray bursts. Its versatility means it can jump on a range of astronomical events. Supernova explosions, active galactic nuclei, gravitational waves, and even neutrino alerts—COLIBRÍ can tackle them all. While it waits for its next GRB alert, it can keep busy exploring the galaxies or tracking the remnants of exploding stars. In the hands of Mexican and French scientists, this telescope is a multi-tasking dynamo, with its time fully optimized for maximum cosmic yield.

Speaking of its namesake, the word "Hummingbird" in COLIBRÍ has a double meaning, as any true scientific acronym should. The first meaning is tied to its role in observing "optical and infrared bright transients"—those short-lived flashes of light in the cosmos that vanish almost as quickly as they appear. A transient, in astronomical parlance, is a signal or waveform that starts at zero amplitude, flickers for a brief, dazzling moment, and then fades back into nothingness. The second meaning, of course, comes from the actual bird itself. Hummingbirds are known for their rapid wing beats and their ability to make swift, sharp turns—qualities that mirror the telescope's own talents. Small, agile, and always on the move, they are nature’s perfect analogy for COLIBRÍ’s relentless hunt for fleeting cosmic phenomena.

This dual significance is more than just a clever linguistic twist; it speaks to the very soul of the project. COLIBRÍ is a machine of action, always ready to dart toward the next celestial event, its cameras poised to catch the briefest flickers of light from the farthest reaches of the universe. It’s a testament to the power of modern astronomy—how something so seemingly heavy and earthbound can nonetheless soar through the sky with the speed and grace of a hummingbird.

By fusing cutting-edge technology with the timeless curiosity of human beings, COLIBRÍ opens up a new era of astronomical discovery. With its combination of speed, precision, and versatility, the telescope offers us a glimpse of a universe in motion—one filled with fleeting, spectacular events that speak to the raw, untamed energy of the cosmos. And thanks to COLIBRÍ, we’ll be there to witness it all.