Automation of the AST3 optical sky survey from Dome~A, Antarctica
arXiv:2006.08128 · doi:10.1093/mnras/staa1730
Abstract
The 0.5\,m Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) were designed for time-domain optical/infrared astronomy. They are located in Dome~A, Antarctica, where they can take advantage of the continuous dark time during winter. Since the site is unattended in winter, everything for the operation, from observing to data reduction, had to be fully automated. Here, we present a brief overview of the AST3 project and some of its unique characteristics due to its location in Antarctica. We summarise the various components of the survey, including the customized hardware and software, that make complete automation possible.
arXiv comment9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
References in corpus (19)
- Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
- A method for optimal image subtraction
- Astrophysics Source Code Library
- Follow up of GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart by Australian-led observing programs
- Optical Observations of LIGO Source GW 170817 by the Antarctic Survey Telescopes at Dome A, Antarctica
- First whole atmosphere night-time seeing measurements at Dome C, Antarctica
- Dome C site testing: surface layer, free atmosphere seeing and isoplanatic angle statistics
- Meteorological data for the astronomical site at Dome A, Antarctica
- The First Release of the AST3-1 Point Source Catalogue from Dome A, Antarctica
- Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency During the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica From the Gattini-Allsky Camera
- Testing and Data Reduction of the Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR) for Dome A, Antarctica
- Variable Stars Observed in the Galactic Disk by AST3-1 from Dome A, Antarctica
- Meteorological data from KLAWS-2G for an astronomical site survey of Dome A, Antarctica
- Exoplanets in the Antarctic sky. II. 116 Transiting Exoplanet Candidates Found by AST3-II (CHESPA) within the Southern CVZ of TESS
- Scientific Goals of the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey (KISS)
- A new method of CCD dark current correction via extracting the dark information from scientific images
- Optimising the K dark filter for the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey
- Exoplanets in the Antarctic Sky. I. The First Data Release of AST3-II (CHESPA) and New Found Variables within the Southern CVZ of TESS
- Problems with twilight/supersky flat-field for wide-field robotic telescopes and the solution