@article{3069132,
    title = "NELIOTA: The wide-field, high-cadence, lunar monitoring system at the prime focus of the Kryoneri telescope",
    author = "Xilouris, E.M. and Bonanos, A.Z. and Bellas-Velidis, I. and Boumis, P. and Dapergolas, A. and Maroussis, A. and Liakos, A. and Alikakos, I. and Charmandaris, V. and Dimou, G. and Fytsilis, A. and Kelley, M. and Koschny, D. and Navarro, V. and Tsiganis, K. and Tsinganos, K.",
    journal = "Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics",
    year = "2018",
    volume = "619",
    publisher = "EDP Sciences",
    issn = "0275-1062",
    doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/201833499",
    keywords = "CMOS integrated circuits;  Metals;  MOS devices;  Oxide semiconductors;  Photometry;  Semiconductor detectors;  Signal to noise ratio;  Surveying;  Telescopes, Complementary metal oxide semiconductors;  Instrumentation: detectors;  Near earth objects;  Signal to noise (S/N) ratios;  Simultaneous observation;  Size-frequency distributions;  Technical specifications;  Techniques: Miscellaneous, Moon",
    abstract = "We present the technical specifications and first results of the ESA-funded, lunar monitoring project "NELIOTA" (NEO Lunar Impacts and Optical TrAnsients) at the National Observatory of Athens, which aims to determine the size-frequency distribution of small near-Earth objects (NEOs) via detection of impact flashes on the surface of the Moon. For the purposes of this project a twin camera instrument was specially designed and installed at the 1.2 m Kryoneri telescope utilizing the fast-frame capabilities of scientific Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor detectors (sCMOS). The system provides a wide field-of-view (17.0′ × 14.4′) and simultaneous observations in two photometric bands (R and I), reaching limiting magnitudes of 18.7 mag in 10 s in both bands at a 2.5 signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) level. This makes it a unique instrument that can be used for the detection of NEO impacts on the Moon, as well as for any astronomy projects that demand high-cadence multicolor observations. The wide field-of-view ensures that a large portion of the Moon is observed, while the simultaneous, high-cadence, monitoring in two photometric bands makes possible the determination of the temperatures of the impacts on the Moon's surface and the validation of the impact flashes from a single site. Considering the varying background level on the Moon's surface we demonstrate that the NELIOTA system can detect NEO impact flashes at a 2.5 S/N level of ∼12.4 mag in the I-band and R-band for observations made at low lunar phases (∼0.1). We report 31 NEO impact flashes detected during the first year of the NELIOTA campaign. The faintest flash was at 11.24 mag in the R-band (about two magnitudes fainter than ever observed before) at lunar phase 0.32. Our observations suggest a detection rate of 1.96×10-7 events km-2 h-1. © 2018 ESO."
}