This paper outlines the scientific goals and observational strategies of the Mini-SiTian array. Mounted at Xinglong Observatory, the Mini-SiTian array consists of three 30 cm telescopes and has been in operation since 2022. The large field of view, combined with the capability for multi-band photometric observations, enables the Mini-SiTian array to perform rapid follow-up observations to identify optical counterparts of gravitational waves, capture the early light curves of tidal disruption events and supernovae, and monitor stellar flares, Be star outbursts, and cataclysmic variable stars, although its limiting magnitude is not very deep. By collaborating with the Xinglong 2.16-m telescope and leveraging a real-time image processing pipeline, simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations could be performed to reveal their underlying physical mechanisms. The observational and research experience provide critical guidance for the implementation of the full-scale SiTian project in the future.
@article{arxiv.2504.01610,
title = {The Mini-SiTian Array: White Paper},
author = {Henggeng Han and Yang Huang and Beichuan Wang and Yongkang Sun and Cunshi Wang and Zhirui Li and Junjie Jin and Ningchen Sun and Kai Xiao and Min He and Hongrui Gu and Zexi Niu and Hong Wu and Jifeng Liu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.01610},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
11 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in a special issue of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics on the Mini-SiTian Array