Ukaliq: Seeing Long-Term with Small, Precise Arctic Telescopes

TL;DR

Ukaliq is a small, automated Arctic telescope system designed for long-term, high-quality time-domain astrophysics at PEARL, leveraging unique polar conditions for extended, reliable observations with modest equipment.

Contribution

The paper introduces Ukaliq, a novel small, precise Arctic telescope system optimized for long-term observations in extreme polar conditions, incorporating adaptive optics and specialized observing strategies.

Findings

High photometric reliability achieved with modest aperture and adaptive optics.

Extended dark periods (>100 hours) enable continuous long-term monitoring.

Potential for multi-year gravitational microlensing surveys in polar environments.

Abstract

Time-domain astrophysics benefits from extreme-latitude sites, which can combine intrinsically extended nighttime with good sky conditions. One such location is the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), at 80 degrees North latitude, on the northwestern edge of Ellesmere Island, Canada. Experience gained deploying seeing monitors there has been incorporated into an automated system called "Ukaliq" after the common arctic hare, which is also very well suited to its local environment. Even with modest aperture, high photometric reliability may be achieved using simple adaptive optics together with observing strategies that best fit the unique set of advantages available at PEARL: excellent image quality maintained during many clear, calm, dark periods of 100 hours or more. A potential multi-year search for gravitational microlensing of quasars with Ukaliq helps illustrate this niche in the era of large wide-field survey facilities.