Airglow and Aurorae from Dome A, Antarctica

Abstract Despite the absence of artificial light pollution at Antarctic plateau sites such as Dome A, other factors such as airglow, aurorae and extended periods of twilight have the potential to adversely affect optical observations. We present a statistical analysis of the airglow and aurorae at D...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Main Authors: Sims, Geoff, Ashley, Michael C. B., Cui, Xiangqun, Everett, Jon R., Feng, LongLong, Gong, Xuefei, Hengst, Shane, Hu, Zhongwen, Lawrence, Jon S., Luong-Van, Daniel M., Moore, Anna M., Riddle, Reed, Shang, Zhaohui, Storey, John W. V., Tothill, Nick, Travouillon, Tony, Wang, Lifan, Yang, Huigen, Yang, Ji, Zhou, Xu, Zhu, Zhenxi
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2012
Subjects:
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science
Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921312017048
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1743921312017048
Description
Summary:Abstract Despite the absence of artificial light pollution at Antarctic plateau sites such as Dome A, other factors such as airglow, aurorae and extended periods of twilight have the potential to adversely affect optical observations. We present a statistical analysis of the airglow and aurorae at Dome A using spectroscopic data from Nigel, an optical/near-IR spectrometer operating in the 300–850 nm range. The median auroral contribution to the B , V and R photometric bands is found to be 22.9, 23.4 and 23.0 mag arcsec −2 respectively. We are also able to quantify the amount of annual dark time available as a function of wavelength; on average twilight ends when the Sun reaches a zenith distance of 102.6°.

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