Fifty years of High Time Resolution Astrophysics at La Silla : results and prospects

High time-resolution astrophysics (HTRA) involves observations and studies of cosmic sources on timescales of seconds to sub-milliseconds. Indeed, this observing tool gives access to information on a wide variety of astronomical objects from solar system bodies to the recently discovered Fast Radio Bursts. Since the 1980s, several programmes were conducted at the ESO 50cm and 1m, the Danish 1.54m, the Gamma-ray burst Monitoring System and the 3.6m telescope for pulsar studies. The discovery of SN1987a was a major event and the search for a pulsed signature triggered a special project, thanks to the dedication of the La Silla team. Today, new high performance 1 and 2 D cameras at NTT (Iqueye, Ultracam, etc) have produced significant scientific outputs whereas the Galway fast polarimeter GASP at the 3.6m is currently showing new and original results on pulsars. During this talk, we will describe the tribute from La Silla to HTRA and prospects.