SKY BRIGHTNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE i-BAND AT DOME A, ANTARCTICA

Hu Zou(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Xu Zhou(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Zhaoji Jiang(Chinese Academy of Sciences), M. C. B. Ashley(UNSW Sydney), Xiangqun Cui(Purple Mountain Observatory), Longlong Feng(Purple Mountain Observatory), Xuefei Gong(Purple Mountain Observatory), Jingyao Hu(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Craig Kulesa(University of Arizona), Jon Lawrence(Australian Astronomical Observatory), Genrong Liu(Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology), D. Luong-Van(UNSW Sydney), Jun Ma(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Anna Moore(California Institute of Technology), C. Pennypacker(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Weijia Qin(Polar Research Institute of China), Zhaohui Shang(Tianjin Normal University), J. W. V. Storey(UNSW Sydney), Bo Sun(Polar Research Institute of China), Tony Travouillon(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), C. K. Walker(University of Arizona), Jiali Wang(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Lifan Wang(Purple Mountain Observatory), Jianghua Wu(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Zhenyu Wu(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Lirong Xia(Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology), Jun Yan(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Ji Yang(Purple Mountain Observatory), Huigen Yang(Polar Research Institute of China), Yongqiang Yao(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Xiangyan Yuan(Purple Mountain Observatory), Donald G. York(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), Zhanhai Zhang(Polar Research Institute of China), Zhenxi Zhu(Purple Mountain Observatory)
The Astronomical Journal
July 12, 2010
10.1088/0004-6256/140/2/602
Cited by 56Open Access
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Abstract

ABSTRACT The i -band observing conditions at Dome A on the Antarctic plateau have been investigated using data acquired during 2008 with the Chinese Small Telescope Array. The sky brightness, variations in atmospheric transparency, cloud cover, and the presence of aurorae are obtained from these images. The median sky brightness of moonless clear nights is 20.5 mag arcsec −2 in the SDSS i band at the south celestial pole (which includes a contribution of about 0.06 mag from diffuse Galactic light). The median over all Moon phases in the Antarctic winter is about 19.8 mag arcsec −2 . There were no thick clouds in 2008. We model contributions of the Sun and the Moon to the sky background to obtain the relationship between the sky brightness and transparency. Aurorae are identified by comparing the observed sky brightness to the sky brightness expected from this model. About 2% of the images are affected by relatively strong aurorae.

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