Early Grb Optical and Infrared Afterglow Observations

— We present the first optical observations of a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) afterglow using the 2-m robotic Liverpool Telescope (LT), which is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University and situated on La Palma. We briefly discuss the capabilities of LT and its suitability for rapid follow-up observations of early optical and infrared GRB light curves. In particular, the combination of aperture, site, instrumentation and rapid response (robotic override mode aided by telescope's rapid slew and fully-opening enclosure) makes the LT ideal for investigating the nature of short bursts, optically-dark bursts, and GRB blast-wave physics in general. We briefly describe the LT's key position in the RoboNet-1.0 network of robotic telescopes. We present the LT observations of GRB041006 and use its gamma-ray properties to predict the time of the break in optical light curve, a prediction consistent with the observations. PACS 95.55.Cs – Ground-based ultraviolet, optical and infrared telescopes. PACS 98.70.Rz – gamma-ray sources; gamma-ray bursts. Robotic operation of the Liverpool Telescope (LT) enables an override mode to be automatically triggered when a GRB alert is received from GRB Coordinates Network. Rapid response time (∼1 min) combined with 2-m aperture and instrumentation (optical, near-infrared (NIR) camera and spectrograph, for details see [1]) make the LT especially suitable for the discovery and investigation of prompt optical/IR emission, short-duration burst counterparts, and optically-dark long GRBs. Early-time optical spectroscopy of