Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau
The high plateau that covers half of the continent of Antarctica contains the best astronomical observing sites on Earth. The infrared sky background is low, the precipitable water vapour is low, the sub-millimetre sky opacity is low, the winds are low, the atmosphere is exceedingly clear and stable...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39135 https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 |
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ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/39135 2023-05-15T13:52:09+02:00 Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau Ashley, Michael Burton, Michael Lawrence, Jonathan Storey, John 2004 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39135 https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 EN eng http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39135 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 metadata only access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ CC-BY-NC-ND urn:ISSN:0004-6337 Astronomische Nachrichten, 325, 6-8, 619-625 telescopes site testing Earth atmosphere instrumentation adaptive optics high angular resolution journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2004 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 2022-08-09T07:41:13Z The high plateau that covers half of the continent of Antarctica contains the best astronomical observing sites on Earth. The infrared sky background is low, the precipitable water vapour is low, the sub-millimetre sky opacity is low, the winds are low, the atmosphere is exceedingly clear and stable, it never rains, there is no dust, it is geological stable, and the seeing at some sites, notably Dome C, is superb. The turbulence profile in the atmosphere is beneficial for adaptive optics, with fewer actuators and fewer deformable mirrors being required, and with significant correction being possible at visible wavelengths. For projects that require continuous monitoring, e.g., planet detection through micro-lensing, a single robotic telescope in Antarctica can replace a network of 4-6 telescopes placed around the world at mid-latitude sites. For many projects requiring large apertures, a given size telescope in Antarctica will outperform a telescope of 2-3 times the aperture at a mid-latitude site. We review what is known about the site conditions, and outline some of the issues involved with designing robotic telescopes to work in Antarctica. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks Antarctic The Antarctic Astronomische Nachrichten 325 6-8 619 625 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunswworks |
language |
English |
topic |
telescopes site testing Earth atmosphere instrumentation adaptive optics high angular resolution |
spellingShingle |
telescopes site testing Earth atmosphere instrumentation adaptive optics high angular resolution Ashley, Michael Burton, Michael Lawrence, Jonathan Storey, John Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
topic_facet |
telescopes site testing Earth atmosphere instrumentation adaptive optics high angular resolution |
description |
The high plateau that covers half of the continent of Antarctica contains the best astronomical observing sites on Earth. The infrared sky background is low, the precipitable water vapour is low, the sub-millimetre sky opacity is low, the winds are low, the atmosphere is exceedingly clear and stable, it never rains, there is no dust, it is geological stable, and the seeing at some sites, notably Dome C, is superb. The turbulence profile in the atmosphere is beneficial for adaptive optics, with fewer actuators and fewer deformable mirrors being required, and with significant correction being possible at visible wavelengths. For projects that require continuous monitoring, e.g., planet detection through micro-lensing, a single robotic telescope in Antarctica can replace a network of 4-6 telescopes placed around the world at mid-latitude sites. For many projects requiring large apertures, a given size telescope in Antarctica will outperform a telescope of 2-3 times the aperture at a mid-latitude site. We review what is known about the site conditions, and outline some of the issues involved with designing robotic telescopes to work in Antarctica. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ashley, Michael Burton, Michael Lawrence, Jonathan Storey, John |
author_facet |
Ashley, Michael Burton, Michael Lawrence, Jonathan Storey, John |
author_sort |
Ashley, Michael |
title |
Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
title_short |
Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
title_full |
Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
title_fullStr |
Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau |
title_sort |
robotic telescopes on the antarctic plateau |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39135 https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:0004-6337 Astronomische Nachrichten, 325, 6-8, 619-625 |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/39135 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 |
op_rights |
metadata only access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.200410296 |
container_title |
Astronomische Nachrichten |
container_volume |
325 |
container_issue |
6-8 |
container_start_page |
619 |
op_container_end_page |
625 |
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