PHOTOMETRY OF VARIABLE STARS FROM DOME A, ANTARCTICA: RESULTS FROM THE 2010 OBSERVING SEASON

Lingzhi Wang(Beijing Normal University), Lucas M. Macri(Mitchell Institute), Lifan Wang(Beijing Normal University), M. C. B. Ashley(UNSW Sydney), Xiangqun Cui(Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology), Longlong Feng(Purple Mountain Observatory), Xuefei Gong(Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology), Jon Lawrence(Australian Astronomical Observatory), Qiang Liu(Chinese Academy of Sciences), D. Luong-Van(UNSW Sydney), C. Pennypacker(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Zhaohui Shang(Tianjin Normal University), J. W. V. Storey(UNSW Sydney), Huigen Yang(Polar Research Institute of China), Ji Yang(Purple Mountain Observatory), Xiangyan Yuan(Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology), Donald G. York(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), Xu Zhou(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Zhenxi Zhu(Beijing Normal University), Zong‐Hong Zhu(Beijing Normal University)
The Astronomical Journal
October 22, 2013
10.1088/0004-6256/146/6/139
Cited by 48Open Access
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Abstract

We present results from a season of observations with the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR), obtained over 183 days of the 2010 Antarctic winter. We carried out high-cadence time-series aperture photometry of 20,000 stars with i<15.3 mag located in a 23 square-degree region centered on the south celestial pole. We identified 188 variable stars, including 67 new objects relative to our 2008 observations, thanks to broader synoptic coverage, a deeper magnitude limit and a larger field of view. We used the photometric data set to derive site statistics from Dome A. Based on two years of observations, we find that extinction due to clouds at this site is less than 0.1 and 0.4 mag during 45% and 75% of the dark time, respectively.

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