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The PLATO observatory: robotic astronomy from the Antarctic plateau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2010

M. C. B. Ashley ,
G. Allen ,
C. S. Bonner ,
S. G. Bradley ,
X. Cui ,
J. R. Everett ,
L. Feng ,
X. Gong ,
S. Hengst  and
J. Hu
...Show all authors
M. C. B. Ashley
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
G. Allen
Affiliation:
Solar Mobility Pty Ltd, Thornleigh, NSW 2120, Australia
C. S. Bonner
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
S. G. Bradley
Affiliation:
Physics Department, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
X. Cui
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Nanjing 210042, China
J. R. Everett
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
L. Feng
Affiliation:
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing 210008, China
X. Gong
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Nanjing 210042, China
S. Hengst
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
J. Hu
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Z. Jiang
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
C. A. Kulesa
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
J. S. Lawrence
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia Department of Physics and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Anglo-Australian Observatory, NSW 1710, Australia
Y. Li
Affiliation:
Polar Research Institute of China, Pudong, Shanghai 200136, China
D. M. Luong-Van
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
M. J. McCaughrean
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK European Space Agency, ESTEC, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
A. M. Moore
Affiliation:
Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
C. Pennypacker
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
W. Qin
Affiliation:
Polar Research Institute of China, Pudong, Shanghai 200136, China
R. Riddle
Affiliation:
Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Z. Shang
Affiliation:
Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300074, China
J. W. V. Storey
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
B. Sun
Affiliation:
Polar Research Institute of China, Pudong, Shanghai 200136, China
N. Suntzeff
Affiliation:
Physics Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
N. F. H. Tothill
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK
T. Travouillon
Affiliation:
Thirty Meter Telescope Project, Pasadena, CA 91107, USA
C. K. Walker
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
L. Wang
Affiliation:
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing 210008, China Physics Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
J. Yan
Affiliation:
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing 210008, China
H. Yang
Affiliation:
Polar Research Institute of China, Pudong, Shanghai 200136, China
D. G. York
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and The Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
X. Yuan
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Nanjing 210042, China
X. Zhang
Affiliation:
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing 210008, China
Z. Zhang
Affiliation:
Polar Research Institute of China, Pudong, Shanghai 200136, China
X. Zhou
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Z. Zhu
Affiliation:
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing 210008, China
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Abstract

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PLATO is a 6 tonne completely self-contained robotic observatory that provides its own heat, electricity, and satellite communications. It was deployed to Dome A in Antarctica in January 2008 by the Chinese expedition team, and is now in its second year of operation. PLATO is operating four 14.5cm optical telescopes with 1k × 1k CCDs, a wide-field sky camera with a 2k × 2k CCD and Sloan g, r, i filters, a fibre-fed spectrograph to measure the UV to near-IR sky spectrum, a 0.2m terahertz telescope, two sonic radars giving 1m resolution data on the boundary layer to a height of 180m, a 15m tower, meteorological sensors, and 8 web cameras. Beginning in 2010/11 PLATO will be upgraded to support a Multi Aperture Scintillation Sensor and three AST3 0.5m schmidt telescopes, with 10k × 10 CCDs and 100TB/annum data requirements.

Keywords

Site TestingInstrumentation: miscellaneousAtmospheric EffectsTelescopes
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Highlights H15: Highlights of Astronomy , November 2009 , pp. 627 - 629
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

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