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The PLATO observatory : robotic astronomy from the Antarctic plateau

  • M. C. B. Ashley
  • , G. Allen
  • , C. S. Bonner
  • , S. G. Bradley
  • , X. Cui
  • , J. R. Everett
  • , L. Feng
  • , X. Gong
  • , S. Hengst
  • , J. Hu
  • , Z. Jiang
  • , C. A. Kulesa
  • , J. S. Lawrence
  • , Y. Li
  • , D. M. Luong-Van
  • , M. J. McCaughrean
  • , A. M. Moore
  • , C. Pennypacker
  • , W. Qin
  • , R. Riddle
  • Z. Shang, J. W. V. Storey, B. Sun, N. Suntzeff, N. F. H. Tothill, T. Travouillon, C. K. Walker, L. Wang, J. Yan, H. Yang, D. G. York, X. Yuan, X. Zhang, Z. Zhang, X. Zhou, Z. Zhu

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paper

Abstract

PLATO is a 6 tonne completely self-contained robotic observatory that provides its own heat, electricity, and satellite communications. It was deployed to Dome A in Antarctica in January 2008 by the Chinese expedition team, and is now in its second year of operation. PLATO is operating four 14.5cm optical telescopes with 1k×1k CCDs, a wide-field sky camera with a 2k×2k CCD and Sloan g, r, i filters, a fibre-fed spectrograph to measure the UV to near-IR sky spectrum, a 0.2m terahertz telescope, two sonic radars giving 1m resolution data on the boundary layer to a height of 180m, a 15m tower, meteorological sensors, and 8 web cameras. Beginning in 2010/11 PLATO will be upgraded to support a Multi Aperture Scintillation Sensor and three AST3 0.5m schmidt telescopes, with 10k×10k CCDs and 100TB/annum data requirements.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 3-14 August 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages627-629
Number of pages3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
EventInternational Astronomical Union. General Assembly -
Duration: 1 Jan 2010 → …

Conference

ConferenceInternational Astronomical Union. General Assembly
Period1/01/10 → …

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