PANDA and Astronomy Projects on Dome A PANDA and Astronomy Projects on Dome A Purple Mountain Observatory ( 紫金山天文台 PMO) Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology/NAOC ( 南京天文光学技术研究所 ) Polar Reserch Institute of China ( 中国极地研究中心 ) National Astronomical Observatories ( 国家天文台 NAOC) Xu ZHOU( 周旭 ) Lifan WANG( 王立帆 ) Xiangqun CUI( 崔向群 ) Yuansheng LI( 李院生 ) Jun YAN( 严俊 ) Longlong FENG( 冯隆隆 ) Yongheng ZHAO( 赵永恒 ) Jingyao HU( 胡景耀 ) Yongqiang YAO( 姚永强 ) Zhenxi ZHU( 朱镇熹 ) Sino-France 2006

What is PANDA? The geographic locations (60 o ～ 80 o E, south of 53 o S) (60 o ～ 80 o E, south of 53 o S) Main research areas  Prydz Bay  Amery Ice Shelf  Zhongshan Station  Lambert Basin  Zhongshan-Dome A transect  Dome A The Prydz Bay, Amery Ice Shelf and Dome A Observatories The Prydz Bay, Amery Ice Shelf and Dome A Observatories Short Form Title : PANDA Short Form Title : PANDA

Traverse from Zhongshan to Dome A twice, About 8 snow mobiles every time, can take about 700 tons. Set up a 100 m 2 building at Dome A. Install several Astronomy instruments at Dome A. About 2010 : Set up the station living through the winter Set up the station living through the winter on Dome A 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 season:

Ministry of FinanceMinistry of Finance Ministry of Science and TechnologyMinistry of Science and Technology National Science Foundation of ChinaNational Science Foundation of China State Oceanic AdministrationState Oceanic Administration The fund for PANDA in term of IPY is more than $25M. Sponsors are:

Dome A is the summit of the antarctic icecap USGS image Dome C South Pole Dome A

E70 E80 Amery Ice Shelf Prince Charles Mountain Zhongshan Grove Mountain Dome A Mawson Princess Elizabeth Land Prydz Bay Davis MGA East Antarctic Glaciological Exploration (EAGLE) 1996/ / / /2005 About 1228km

USGS image Dome A South Pole Dome C Vostok

Lawrence, Ashley, Tokovinin, and Travouillon, Nature, 431, 278, (2004)

How about Dome A as astronomy observation site?  The collaboration between Antarctic Astronomy Center of China (AACC) and University of New South Wales.  AASTINO has contributed to the site measure at Dome C. AASTINO

Cooperate with California Institute of Technology  A 35cm-diameter-telescope to measure the seeing, background light, etc. at Dome A.  AACC provides telescope, Caltech provides the CCD.

4x15cm telescopes  4 telescopes with diameter 15cm, 1Kx1K CCD each, 5x5 square degrees view, all point to the zenith of the south pole.  With BVRI filters and polarizer, without any mechanical moveable instrument.  Constant observation for more than 4 months, take pictures every 10s.

Science Purposes  Variables with photometer and color, etc.  SNe, Novae, Orphan afterglows of γoutburst.  Search for extrasolar planets.  Light curves of variables  Statistic of the variables in this area.  Site survey: background light, cloud, etc.

XIAN— eXtreme Imaging Array Network inspired by the appearance of the terracotta armies at Xian, China D. York, D. Lamb, D. Sanford (U. Chicago); C Pennypacker (SSL); X. Cui (NAIOT); J. Storey, M. Ashley (UNSW); R. Malina, S. Basa (Marseille); E. Cappellaro (Padova); L. Wang (LBL); M. Blouke (Ball Aerospace); X. Zhou (CAS, Beijing)

Xian plan, cooperate with UC,Chicago  400 telescopes with diameter 50cm, 20 square degrees each, 16Kx16K CCD.  Half (1/3?) monitor the area near the zenith(4000 degrees), the others survey the whole south sky.  The first step is in International Polar Year, build 2 or 3 sample telescopes.  Deep optical survey (much deeper than SDSS)  The same subjects as 4x15cm, but much more powerful.

The View of Xian

Close View

4-meter telescope 图 4 (b) 4 米望远镜机架及支撑效果图

Characters of 4-meter and benefits from the best site on the earth  field of view(FOV) is 2°  Image quality: 1° FOV: 80% circled in 0.1 "; full FOV (2°): 80% circled in 0.15"  reach 29 th magnitude in R-band (10σ) due to the best seeing, clearity, etc.  Cost of the telescope is less than $30M.  Similar characters as SNAP or LSST(8 meter)

Thanks! Thanks!

Antarctic disadvantages  Winterizing a telescope takes time/effort  It is difficult to repair faults in mid-winter  It is more expensive and difficult to have a large team of people at the telescope (hence automation is critical)  Transporting large structures to Dome C incurs a year’s delay at Dumont d’Urville station  The telescope is being built on ice foundations  Less cloud-free dark time than Chile (although the same as Mauna Kea)  Aurorae (although Dome C is in the middle of the auroral oval)  Less overall sky coverage

Antarctic advantages  Superb seeing (0.27 arcsec average; < 0.15 arcsec for 25% of the time)  Wide isoplanatic angle, long coherence times (a factor of 2 better than MK)  Lower scintillation (a factor of 2-3 times lower than MK)  Low precipitable water vapour – new windows, wider windows  Stable atmospheric conditions  Low IR backgrounds (factors of better than MK)  Low telescope temperatures (particularly important for interferometry)  Greatly reduced telescope costs (for the same performance)  No aerosols or dust particles  Longer mirror coating lifetimes (no need for recoating?)  Reduced airmass variations  >90% cloud free at Dome C; long periods of continuous observation  Low windspeeds, low maximum wind speeds  No seismic activity  No endangered species, etc  Increased sky coverage (for some projects, e.g., AO imaging, interferometry)  Plenty of room to put lots of telescopes!

Galactic center LMC SMC 6 am Galactic center LMC SMC 6 am June 21 st Galactic coordinates

Galactic center LMC SMC 12 am Galactic center LMC SMC June 21 st Galactic coordinates

Galactic center SMC LMC 6 pm June 21 st Galactic coordinates

Galactic center LMCSMC 12 pm June 21 st Galactic coordinates