The i-band Sky brightness and Transparency at Dome A, Antarctica

Abstract

Based on the observations of the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR), the i band observing conditions at Antarctic Dome A have been investigated. The over all variations of sky brightness and transparency are calculated and subsequently cloud cover, contributions to the sky background from various factors including aurorae are derived. The median sky brightness of moonless clear nights is about 20.5 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ in the SDSS i band at the South Celestial Pole, which contains the diffused Galactic light of about 0.06 mag. There are no thick clouds in the year of 2008. Relatively strong aurorae are detected by their brightening the normal sky, which contribute up to about 2 of the observed images.