Antarctic Kunlun Station
Kunlun Station (simplified Chinese: 昆仑站; traditional Chinese: 崑崙站; pinyin: Kūnlún Zhàn) is one of four Chinese research stations in Antarctica.
It is located in the Australian Antarctic Territory at 4087 m above sea level, the highest among all research stations, and 7.3 km southwest of Dome A and was officially opened on January 27, 2009. Fully constructed the station is planned to cover an area of 558 m². The main building, covering 236 m², is planned erected in April 2009.[1]
The site is one of the coldest in the world, with temperatures occasionally reaching −80 °C (−112 °F) in the winter. It is indicated from satellite measurements that places nearby could reach a world record −90 °C (−130 °F) temperature.[2]
In April 2012 the first of three Antarctica Schmidt telescopes (AST3) was installed at Kunlun Station. The other two were planned for installation in 2013 and 2014. A bigger optical telescope, Kunlun Dark Universe Survey Telescope (KDUST), is planned to be installed by 2020.
Telescopes at Antarctic Kunlun Station
| Instrument Name | Aperture | Installation Year | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR) [3] | 0.145m | 2008 | CSTAR is an array of four Schmidt telescope with aperture of 14.5 cm,equipped with 1Kx1K CCD each. |
| Antarctica Schmidt telescopes (AST3) | 0.5m | 2012-2014 | First of three AST3 telescopes was installed at the Antarctic Kunlun Station in April 2012.[4] |
| Kunlun Dark Universe Survey Telescope (KDUST) | 2.5m | 2020 | KDUST is a 2.5 meter infrared optical telescope designed to detect and observe Earth-like planets in the Milky Way using infrared light.[5] |
| Dome A Terahertz Explorer-5 (DATE5) | 5m | 2020 | DATE5 is a 5-meter telescope designed to detect light with longer wavelengths, which will allow astronomers to detect and observe nascent stars.[5] |
| Infrared optical telescope | 6-8m | 2020+ | |
| New terahertz telescope | 15m | 2020+ |
See also
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References
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- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.sciencepoles.org/articles/article_detail/china_spreads_its_polar_wings_research_programmes_at_kunlun_station/
External links
- Official website Polar Research Institute of China
- Official website Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration
- International Polar Foundation report
- PLATO - Dome A Robotic Observatory
- Photos of inauguration
- PLATO - Dome A webcam
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