The Multi-band Survey Telescope at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

The Antarctic Plateau is considered to be the best ground-based astronomical site on Earth. Compared with other middle latitude observatories, the telescopes located in Antarctica have unique advantages in seeing a large fraction of clear nights, continuous observing window in the polar night, and so on. China has operated several generations of telescopes in Antarctica, but has not yet achieved multicolour simultaneous observation with tracking. Multi-band Survey Telescope (MST) is the first multicolour simultaneous survey telescope in Antarctica. It adopts a Newtonian telescope structure which is different from other Antarctic telescopes and is matched with a new alignment scheme suitable for the harsh environment of Antarctica. In addition, MST is equipped with a defrosting indium tin oxide (ITO) window and a high-precision equatorial mount. This paper introduces the optical design, mechanical structure, and analysis of the actual operation of MST in Antarctica. Since March 2022, MST has been carrying out the observation normally in Zhongshan Station, and the operation of MST has provided a new experience for the follow-up design and installation of Antarctic telescopes. We plan to further optimize the design and manufacture of MST, and develop it as a standard model of small-aperture Antarctic telescopes for space debris observations and time-domain surveys.

Automated summary

The Antarctic Plateau is considered to be the best ground-based astronomical site on Earth. Multi-band Survey Telescope (MST) is the first multicolour simultaneous survey telescope in Antarctica, equipped with a Newtonian telescope structure, a new alignment scheme, a defrosting ITO window, and a high-precision equatorial mount. Since March 2022, MST has been carrying out observation normally in Zhongshan Station, providing new experience for the follow-up design and installation of Antarctic telescopes.