China to install a new telescope array in Antarctica

China is planning to install a new telescope array around the South Pole, and its prototype has recently completed trial operation in the frigid continent.

The new project, named the Antarctic TianMu Time-domain Astronomical Observation Array, is expected to consist of 100 small-diameter, large-field telescopes in the Antarctic region, with a single one covering a 10,000-square-degree sky area.

The prototype is China's first astronomical observation equipment in Antarctica based on drift scanning charge coupled device (CCD) technology that allows the telescope to track celestial objects without a driving mechanism, according to Zhou Dan, the prototype's chief engineer from SHAO.