Testing and Data Reduction of the Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR) for Dome A, Antarctica

TL;DR

This paper describes the testing and data reduction procedures for CSTAR, China's first astronomical instrument at Dome A, Antarctica, demonstrating its readiness for scientific observations in extreme conditions.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive testing and performance evaluation of CSTAR for operation in the Antarctic environment.

Findings

Successful low temperature and pressure testing of the data acquisition system.

CSTAR demonstrated operational readiness during test observations.

Performance metrics confirmed suitability for Dome A observations.

Abstract

The Chinese Small Telescope ARray (hereinafter CSTAR) is the first Chinese astronomical instrument on the Antarctic ice cap. The low temperature and low pressure testing of the data acquisition system was carried out in a laboratory refrigerator and on the 4500m Pamirs high plateau, respectively. The results from the final four nights of test observations demonstrated that CSTAR was ready for operation at Dome A, Antarctica. In this paper we present a description of CSTAR and the performance derived from the test observations.