CSTAR2 is a new telescope array which consists of two telescopes with 145mm-aperture and an equatorial mount, which was planned to update the CSTAR (Chinese Small Telescope Array) installed at Dome A, Antarctica in 2008. Since the previous camera was out of product, a brand new CCD camera with 1K*1K pixels was developed for CSTAR2, which was tested function well at -80℃ to prove the ability to work at Antarctica in a long period. The camera has a well performance and the readout noise is as low as 3.99e-rms. An equatorial mount made by NIAOT (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology) can rotate the telescope to point almost entire sky area. In order to control CSTAR2 in an efficient way, a multi-level software control system was developed which contains three main layers: device control layer, coordinating operation layer, user interface layer. The whole system was planned to achieve automatic observation and remote operation under the conditions of poor satellite-link network.
A 1 k × 1 k CCD camera is designed, implemented, and tested for the CSTAR2 telescope in Antarctica, including its mechanics, CCD controller, and low-noise power system. In the design of mechanics and electronics, low-temperature environment is taken into full consideration. The camera has demonstrated mechanical and electrical stability. The system readout noise is as low as 3.99erms− when the CCD readout frequency is 100 kHz. Every part of the camera is fully tested in a cryogenic refrigerator (−86 ° C) and proved that the camera has the ability to work in Antarctica for a long term. Finally, the camera is installed on the CSTAR2 telescopes to take observations and the imaging function is well implemented.
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