中国科学院南京天文光学技术研究所机构知识库

The South Pole, especially the highest plateau Dome A, is the best place to locate telescopes in the world due to its compelling environment, such as dry air, low humidity, low wind speeds, low values of sky noise, etc. For this site, especially significant is its very clean air with the lowest concentration of atmospheric aerosols and its negligible artificial light pollution. But the air temperature in Dome-A is extremely low. The lowest air temperature is about 89 degrees below zero. On the other hand, Dome A is covered with deep snow. In order to build and operate a telescope at such low temperature successfully, some of the problems caused by low temperature should be considered and tested through experiments. According to the Chinese Antarctic 2m LAMOST-style telescope project, a conceptual design of tracking system for a 2 meter optical and infrared telescope fitting to operate at Dome-A, including axes structure, materials, drive systems, lubricant and feasible ways to install telescope will be discussed in this paper.