Kilonovae

Kilonovae are the cleanest argument for an always-online optical-IR spectrograph. The source evolves fast, the SED moves hard to the red, and the instrument either gets there early with broad coverage or it misses the point.

Suggested seed figure: Kasen et al. 2017 synthetic kilonova spectra, plus one observed sequence panel from GW170817-era follow-up.

Why ZShooter

• Simultaneous optical-to-IR coverage matters more than pretty per-arm optimization.

• Rapid-response overheads are part of the science case, not an operational afterthought.

• Imaging fallback still matters once the spectra become marginal.

Current design pressure

This case keeps pressure on response time, relative spectrophotometry across channels, and throughput in the red / NIR where the event quickly and broadly moves.

Build-out TODO

• Add a compact cadence template for first epoch + week-one sequence + late follow-up.

• Target depth table that the science team believes.

• Decide whether this page should carry a ToO flow figure (since its an early hit as people explore) or leave that to the ToO section.