Seminar
50BiN-A subnet of SONG

Abstract

 China joined SONG in 2009, by contributing a full SONG node. The site is located on the north-eastern part of Qinghai-Tibet 
plateau. In order to realize the full capability of the SONG network, and more importantly for Chinese astronomical community 
to gain experience of running oversea observing facilities, we proposed to our collaborators to add a wide-field photometry 
system on each SONG node based on the same site plan. The sub-net is named 50cm Binocular Network (50BiN), which provides 
time-series photometry of simultaneous two-bands (any two of UBVRI-ugriz), and ideally full duty cycle in networked mode 
(if the full SONG would be built). The proto-type 50BiN node has been in operation on Chinese site (Delingha) for 3 years. 
An overview of the grand science plan, configuration of the network and instruments, as well as some science cases will be 
presented in this talk. A brief introduction to the status of ground-based Chinese observing facilities will also be covered.