Site testing campaign for the Large Optical/infrared Telescope of China: overview
Feng Lu, Jinxin Hao, Zihuang Cao, Jin-Min Bai, Ji Yang, Xu Zhou, Yongqiang Yao, Jin-Liang Hou, Yongheng Zhao, Yu Liu, Tengfei Song, Liyong Liu, Jia Yin, Hualin Chen, Chong Pei, Ali Esamdin, Lu Ma, Chunhai Bai, Peng Wei, Jing Xu, Guang-Xin Pu, Guojie Feng, Xuan Zhang, Liang Ming, Abudusaimaitijiang Yisikandee, Jianrong Shi, Jian Li, Yuan Tian, Zheng Wang, Xia Wang, Xiaojun Jiang, Jianfeng Wang, Jian-Feng Tian, Yan‐Jie Xue, Jiansheng Chen, Jingyao Hu, Zhi-Xia Shen, Yun-Ying Jiang
Abstract
Abstract The Large Optical/infrared Telescope (LOT) is a ground-based 12 m diameter optical/infrared telescope which is proposed to be built in the western part of China in the next decade. Based on satellite remote sensing data, along with geographical, logistical and political considerations, three candidate sites were chosen for ground-based astronomical performance monitoring. These sites include: Ali in Tibet, Daocheng in Sichuan and Muztagh-ata in Xinjiang. Up until now, all three sites have continuously collected data for two years. In this paper, we will introduce this site testing campaign, and present its monitoring results obtained during the period between March 2017 and March 2019.