Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain
Mountains along the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada, possess the highest peaks nearest the Pole. This geography, combined with an atmospheric thermal inversion restricted to below ∼1000 m during much of the long arctic night, provides excellent opportunities for uninterrupted cloud-fr...
Published in: | SPIE Proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926598 https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca |
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ftnrccanada:oai:cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.ca:cistinparc:21270171 2023-05-15T14:54:17+02:00 Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain Steinbring, Eric Leckie, Brian Hardy, Tim Caputa, Kris Fletcher, Murray 2012-07-01 text https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926598 https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca eng eng issn:0277-786X Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IV, July 1-6, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ISBN: 9780819491459, Publication date: 2012-07-01 doi:10.1117/12.926598 article 2012 ftnrccanada https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926598 2021-09-01T06:26:12Z Mountains along the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada, possess the highest peaks nearest the Pole. This geography, combined with an atmospheric thermal inversion restricted to below ∼1000 m during much of the long arctic night, provides excellent opportunities for uninterrupted cloud-free astronomy - provided the challenges of these incredibly remote locations can be overcome. We present a miniaturized robotic observatory for deployment on a High Arctic mountaintop. This system tested the operability of precise optical instruments during winter, and the logistics of installation and maintenance during summer. It is called Ukpik after the Inuktitut name for the snowy owl, and was deployed at two sites accessible only by helicopter, each north of 82 degrees latitude; one on rock at 1100 m elevation and another on a glacier at 1600 m. The instrument suite included at first an all-sky-viewing camera, with the later addition of a small telescope to monitor Polaris, both protected by a retractable weather-proof enclosure. Expanding this to include a narrow-field drift-scanning camera for studying extra-solar planet transits was also investigated, but not implemented. An unique restriction was that all had to be run on batteries recharged primarily by a wind turbine. Supplementary power came from a methanol fuel-cell electrical generator. Communications were via the Iridium satellite network. The system design, and lessons learned from three years of operation are discussed, along with prospects for time-domain astronomy from isolated, high-elevation polar mountaintops. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* inuktitut snowy owl National Research Council Canada: NRC Publications Archive Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island SPIE Proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV 8444 84441P |
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Open Polar |
collection |
National Research Council Canada: NRC Publications Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnrccanada |
language |
English |
description |
Mountains along the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada, possess the highest peaks nearest the Pole. This geography, combined with an atmospheric thermal inversion restricted to below ∼1000 m during much of the long arctic night, provides excellent opportunities for uninterrupted cloud-free astronomy - provided the challenges of these incredibly remote locations can be overcome. We present a miniaturized robotic observatory for deployment on a High Arctic mountaintop. This system tested the operability of precise optical instruments during winter, and the logistics of installation and maintenance during summer. It is called Ukpik after the Inuktitut name for the snowy owl, and was deployed at two sites accessible only by helicopter, each north of 82 degrees latitude; one on rock at 1100 m elevation and another on a glacier at 1600 m. The instrument suite included at first an all-sky-viewing camera, with the later addition of a small telescope to monitor Polaris, both protected by a retractable weather-proof enclosure. Expanding this to include a narrow-field drift-scanning camera for studying extra-solar planet transits was also investigated, but not implemented. An unique restriction was that all had to be run on batteries recharged primarily by a wind turbine. Supplementary power came from a methanol fuel-cell electrical generator. Communications were via the Iridium satellite network. The system design, and lessons learned from three years of operation are discussed, along with prospects for time-domain astronomy from isolated, high-elevation polar mountaintops. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steinbring, Eric Leckie, Brian Hardy, Tim Caputa, Kris Fletcher, Murray |
spellingShingle |
Steinbring, Eric Leckie, Brian Hardy, Tim Caputa, Kris Fletcher, Murray Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
author_facet |
Steinbring, Eric Leckie, Brian Hardy, Tim Caputa, Kris Fletcher, Murray |
author_sort |
Steinbring, Eric |
title |
Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
title_short |
Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
title_full |
Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
title_fullStr |
Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a High Arctic mountain |
title_sort |
ukpik: testbed for a miniaturized robotic astronomical observatory on a high arctic mountain |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926598 https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=2ce47e2e-cd48-4e07-8cb6-ba20b44106ca |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island |
genre |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* inuktitut snowy owl |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* inuktitut snowy owl |
op_relation |
issn:0277-786X Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IV, July 1-6, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ISBN: 9780819491459, Publication date: 2012-07-01 doi:10.1117/12.926598 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926598 |
container_title |
SPIE Proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV |
container_volume |
8444 |
container_start_page |
84441P |
_version_ |
1766326003005652992 |