Data Release of the AST3-2 Automatic Survey from Dome A, Antarctica

TL;DR

This paper presents the data release and photometric results from the AST3-2 telescope at Dome A, Antarctica, including over 7 million stars and 3,500 variable stars, with 70 newly discovered, demonstrating the site's excellent observational quality.

Contribution

The paper provides the first large-scale photometric data set from AST3-2, including a catalog of variable stars and their classification, highlighting the telescope's capabilities at Dome A.

Findings

Median 5σ limiting magnitude of 17.8 mag in i-band

Detection of over 3,500 variable stars, including 70 new discoveries

Photometry precision of 4 mmag for bright stars

Abstract

AST3-2 is the second of the three Antarctic Survey Telescopes, aimed at wide-field time-domain optical astronomy. It is located at Dome A, Antarctica, which is by many measures the best optical astronomy site on the Earth's surface. Here we present the data from the AST3-2 automatic survey in 2016 and the photometry results. The median 5$\sigma$ limiting magnitude in $i$-band is 17.8 mag and the light curve precision is 4 mmag for bright stars. The data release includes photometry for over 7~million stars, from which over 3,500 variable stars were detected, with 70 of them newly discovered. We classify these new variables into different types by combining their light curve features with stellar properties from surveys such as StarHorse.