Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera
The summit of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is proving to be an excellent site for optical, near-infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations. Gattini is a wide-field camera installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to Dome A in 2009 January. We present here...
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American Astronomical Society
2017
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Online Access: | https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/1/Yang_2017_AJ_154_6.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/2/1610.10094.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957 |
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:78129 2023-05-15T13:55:46+02:00 Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera Yang, Yi Moore, Anna M. Krisciunas, Kevin Wang, Lifan Ashley, Michael C. B. Fu, Jianning Brown, Peter J. Cui, Xiangqun Feng, Long-Long Gong, Xuefei Hu, Zhongwen Lawrence, Jon S. Luong-van, Daniel Riddle, Reed L. Shang, Zhaohui Sims, Geoff Storey, John W. V. Suntzeff, Nicholas B. Tothill, Nick Travouillon, Tony Yang, Huigen Yang, Ji Zhou, Xu Zhu, Zhenxi 2017-07 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/1/Yang_2017_AJ_154_6.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/2/1610.10094.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957 en eng American Astronomical Society https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/1/Yang_2017_AJ_154_6.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/2/1610.10094.pdf Yang, Yi and Moore, Anna M. and Krisciunas, Kevin and Wang, Lifan and Ashley, Michael C. B. and Fu, Jianning and Brown, Peter J. and Cui, Xiangqun and Feng, Long-Long and Gong, Xuefei and Hu, Zhongwen and Lawrence, Jon S. and Luong-van, Daniel and Riddle, Reed L. and Shang, Zhaohui and Sims, Geoff and Storey, John W. V. and Suntzeff, Nicholas B. and Tothill, Nick and Travouillon, Tony and Yang, Huigen and Yang, Ji and Zhou, Xu and Zhu, Zhenxi (2017) Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera. Astronomical Journal, 154 (1). Art. No. 6. ISSN 1538-3881. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa73dc. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957> other Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa73dc 2021-11-18T18:42:30Z The summit of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is proving to be an excellent site for optical, near-infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations. Gattini is a wide-field camera installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to Dome A in 2009 January. We present here the measurements of sky brightness with the Gattini ultra-large field of view (90° x 90°) in the photometric B-, V-, and R-bands; cloud cover statistics measured during the 2009 winter season; and an estimate of the sky transparency. A cumulative probability distribution indicates that the darkest 10% of the nights at Dome A have sky brightness of S_B = 22.98, S V = 21.86, and S_R = 21.68 mag arcsec^(−2). These values were obtained during the year 2009 with minimum aurora, and they are comparable to the faintest sky brightness at Maunakea and the best sites of northern Chile. Since every filter includes strong auroral lines that effectively contaminate the sky brightness measurements, for instruments working around the auroral lines, either with custom filters or with high spectral resolution instruments, these values could be easily obtained on a more routine basis. In addition, we present example light curves for bright targets to emphasize the unprecedented observational window function available from this ground-based site. These light curves will be published in a future paper. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Antarctic Plato ENVELOPE(-54.674,-54.674,-63.433,-63.433) The Antarctic The Astronomical Journal 154 1 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
The summit of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is proving to be an excellent site for optical, near-infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations. Gattini is a wide-field camera installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to Dome A in 2009 January. We present here the measurements of sky brightness with the Gattini ultra-large field of view (90° x 90°) in the photometric B-, V-, and R-bands; cloud cover statistics measured during the 2009 winter season; and an estimate of the sky transparency. A cumulative probability distribution indicates that the darkest 10% of the nights at Dome A have sky brightness of S_B = 22.98, S V = 21.86, and S_R = 21.68 mag arcsec^(−2). These values were obtained during the year 2009 with minimum aurora, and they are comparable to the faintest sky brightness at Maunakea and the best sites of northern Chile. Since every filter includes strong auroral lines that effectively contaminate the sky brightness measurements, for instruments working around the auroral lines, either with custom filters or with high spectral resolution instruments, these values could be easily obtained on a more routine basis. In addition, we present example light curves for bright targets to emphasize the unprecedented observational window function available from this ground-based site. These light curves will be published in a future paper. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yang, Yi Moore, Anna M. Krisciunas, Kevin Wang, Lifan Ashley, Michael C. B. Fu, Jianning Brown, Peter J. Cui, Xiangqun Feng, Long-Long Gong, Xuefei Hu, Zhongwen Lawrence, Jon S. Luong-van, Daniel Riddle, Reed L. Shang, Zhaohui Sims, Geoff Storey, John W. V. Suntzeff, Nicholas B. Tothill, Nick Travouillon, Tony Yang, Huigen Yang, Ji Zhou, Xu Zhu, Zhenxi |
spellingShingle |
Yang, Yi Moore, Anna M. Krisciunas, Kevin Wang, Lifan Ashley, Michael C. B. Fu, Jianning Brown, Peter J. Cui, Xiangqun Feng, Long-Long Gong, Xuefei Hu, Zhongwen Lawrence, Jon S. Luong-van, Daniel Riddle, Reed L. Shang, Zhaohui Sims, Geoff Storey, John W. V. Suntzeff, Nicholas B. Tothill, Nick Travouillon, Tony Yang, Huigen Yang, Ji Zhou, Xu Zhu, Zhenxi Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
author_facet |
Yang, Yi Moore, Anna M. Krisciunas, Kevin Wang, Lifan Ashley, Michael C. B. Fu, Jianning Brown, Peter J. Cui, Xiangqun Feng, Long-Long Gong, Xuefei Hu, Zhongwen Lawrence, Jon S. Luong-van, Daniel Riddle, Reed L. Shang, Zhaohui Sims, Geoff Storey, John W. V. Suntzeff, Nicholas B. Tothill, Nick Travouillon, Tony Yang, Huigen Yang, Ji Zhou, Xu Zhu, Zhenxi |
author_sort |
Yang, Yi |
title |
Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
title_short |
Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
title_full |
Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
title_fullStr |
Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
title_full_unstemmed |
Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera |
title_sort |
optical sky brightness and transparency during the winter season at dome a antarctica from the gattini-all-sky camera |
publisher |
American Astronomical Society |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/1/Yang_2017_AJ_154_6.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/2/1610.10094.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-54.674,-54.674,-63.433,-63.433) |
geographic |
Antarctic Plato The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Plato The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/1/Yang_2017_AJ_154_6.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/78129/2/1610.10094.pdf Yang, Yi and Moore, Anna M. and Krisciunas, Kevin and Wang, Lifan and Ashley, Michael C. B. and Fu, Jianning and Brown, Peter J. and Cui, Xiangqun and Feng, Long-Long and Gong, Xuefei and Hu, Zhongwen and Lawrence, Jon S. and Luong-van, Daniel and Riddle, Reed L. and Shang, Zhaohui and Sims, Geoff and Storey, John W. V. and Suntzeff, Nicholas B. and Tothill, Nick and Travouillon, Tony and Yang, Huigen and Yang, Ji and Zhou, Xu and Zhu, Zhenxi (2017) Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera. Astronomical Journal, 154 (1). Art. No. 6. ISSN 1538-3881. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa73dc. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170612-154057957> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa73dc |
container_title |
The Astronomical Journal |
container_volume |
154 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
6 |
_version_ |
1766262603877711872 |