This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The proposal seeks funding to continue astronomical site-testing investigations at the South Pole Station using the Gattini-UV camera that will provide data on sky brightness in the Astronomical U and B bands for the very first time. The objectives of this research effort are the following: (a) characterize the South Pole winter sky in the Astronomical U and B bands to provide a foundation for future larger-scale experiments such as direct detection of Lyman-alpha emission of the Intergalactic Medium; (b) provide fundamental data for other leading-edge science cases that require virtually no instrument-induced noise, exquisite background subtraction, and are invariant to image quality at these precise wavelengths; (c) measure the atmospheric extinction in the U and B bands from a zenith angle of 0 to 45 degrees; (d) obtain frequent and wide field observations of two of the brightest airglow lines occurring in the U and B bands, and (e) produce frequent and wide field observations of two of the brightest auroral lines in the U and B bands. This experimental dataset will be unique, and its potential significance will have relevance across several disciplines, including astronomers, aeronomers, and auroral scientists. The camera design will be based on the successful Gattini instruments currently operating at Dome A and Dome C, with the added adaptation of a collimator to incorporate narrow band filters at the pupil image. The camera is transit in nature (i.e., the sky moves relative to the CCD) and uses stars within the field to calibrate the sky background flux. Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact of this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission.
