Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica
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 us...
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:32834 2023-05-15T13:37:29+02:00 Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica 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 2012-06 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/1/Sims2012p18959Publ_Astron_Soc_Pac.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912 en eng Astronomical Society of the Pacific https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/1/Sims2012p18959Publ_Astron_Soc_Pac.pdf Sims, Geoff and Ashley, Michael C. B. and Cui, Xiangqun and Everett, Jon R. and Feng, LongLong and Gong, Xuefei and Hengst, Shane and Hu, Zhongwen and Lawrence, Jon S. and Luong-van, Daniel M. and Moore, Anna M. and Riddle, Reed and Shang, Zhaohui and Storey, John W. V. and Tothill, Nick and Travouillon, Tony and Wang, Lifan and Yang, Huigen and Yang, Ji and Zhou, Xu and Zhu, Zhenxi (2012) Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 124 (916). pp. 637-649. ISSN 0004-6280. doi:10.1086/666861. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912> other Article PeerReviewed 2012 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1086/666861 2021-11-11T18:50:30Z 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. These data complement photometric images from Gattini, a wide-field (90°) CCD camera with B, V, and R filters, allowing the background sky brightness to be disentangled from the various airglow and auroral emission lines. 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. Auroral emissions most frequently occur between 10–23 hr local time, when up to 50% of observations are above airglow-level intensities. While infrequent, the strongest emissions detected occurred in the hours just prior to magnetic midnight. We are also able to quantify the amount of annual dark time available as a function of wavelength, as well as in the standard BVR photometric bands. On average, twilight ends when the Sun reaches a zenith distance of 102.6°. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Antarctic Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 124 916 637 649 |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
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. These data complement photometric images from Gattini, a wide-field (90°) CCD camera with B, V, and R filters, allowing the background sky brightness to be disentangled from the various airglow and auroral emission lines. 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. Auroral emissions most frequently occur between 10–23 hr local time, when up to 50% of observations are above airglow-level intensities. While infrequent, the strongest emissions detected occurred in the hours just prior to magnetic midnight. We are also able to quantify the amount of annual dark time available as a function of wavelength, as well as in the standard BVR photometric bands. On average, twilight ends when the Sun reaches a zenith distance of 102.6°. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
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 |
spellingShingle |
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 Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
author_facet |
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 |
author_sort |
Sims, Geoff |
title |
Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
title_short |
Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
title_full |
Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica |
title_sort |
airglow and aurorae at dome a, antarctica |
publisher |
Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/1/Sims2012p18959Publ_Astron_Soc_Pac.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/32834/1/Sims2012p18959Publ_Astron_Soc_Pac.pdf Sims, Geoff and Ashley, Michael C. B. and Cui, Xiangqun and Everett, Jon R. and Feng, LongLong and Gong, Xuefei and Hengst, Shane and Hu, Zhongwen and Lawrence, Jon S. and Luong-van, Daniel M. and Moore, Anna M. and Riddle, Reed and Shang, Zhaohui and Storey, John W. V. and Tothill, Nick and Travouillon, Tony and Wang, Lifan and Yang, Huigen and Yang, Ji and Zhou, Xu and Zhu, Zhenxi (2012) Airglow and Aurorae at Dome A, Antarctica. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 124 (916). pp. 637-649. ISSN 0004-6280. doi:10.1086/666861. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120801-110509912> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1086/666861 |
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Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
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124 |
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916 |
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637 |
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