Antarctic TianMu Staring Observation Project I: Overview and Implementation of the Prototype Telescope
Abstract
Wide-field rapid sky surveys serve as critical observational methods for time-domain astronomical research. The Antarctic region, with several months of continuous dark nights annually, is an ideal site for time-domain astronomical observations. The Antarctic TianMu Staring Observation Project aims to deploy a fleet of small telescopes, adopting an array observation model to conduct time-domain optical observations in Antarctica, featuring wide-sky coverage, high-cadence sampling, long-period staring, and simultaneous multi-band measurements. Considering the severe challenges optical telescopes face in Antarctica, including extremely low temperatures, unattended operation, and limited power supply and network transmission, we have designed and developed the Antarctic TianMu prototype telescope based on drift-scan charge-coupled device technology. In October 2022, our prototype (with an aperture of 18 cm), named AT-Proto was transported to Zhongshan Station in Antarctica aboard China's 39th Antarctic Research Expedition. It has since operated stably and reliably in the frigid environment for over two years, demonstrating the significant advantages of this technology in polar astronomical observations. The experimental observation results of AT-Proto provide a solid foundation for the subsequent construction of a time-domain astronomy observation array in Antarctica.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.24067,
title = {Antarctic TianMu Staring Observation Project I: Overview and Implementation of the Prototype Telescope},
author = {Dan Zhou and Jing Zhong and Jianchun Shi and Zhenghong Tang and Shiyin Shen and Peng Jiang and Jie Zhu and Yong Yu and Lixin Zheng and Jianjun Cao and Guoping Chen and Xinyu Yao and Congcong Zhang and Lurun Shen and Hui Zhang and Xiang Pan and Chenwei Yang and Tuo Ji and Xian Shi and Hengxiao Guo and Zhen Yan and Donghai Zhao and Liang Chen and Jianeng Zhou and Minfeng Gu and Fuguo Xie and Wenbiao Han and Jinliang Hou and Bixuan Zhao and Wenwen Zuo and Chun Xu and Zhengyi Shao and Lei Hao and Jian Fu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.24067},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomical Techniques and Instruments (ATI)