The Mini-SiTian Array: Imaging Processing Pipeline

Abstract As a pathfinder of the SiTian project, the Mini-SiTian (MST) Array, employed three commercial CMOS cameras, represents a next-generation, cost-effective optical time-domain survey project. This paper focuses primarily on the precise data processing pipeline designed for wide-field, CMOS-based devices, including the removal of instrumental effects, astrometry, photometry, and flux calibration. When applying this pipeline to approximately 3000 observations taken in the Field 02 (f02) region by MST, the results demonstrate a remarkable astrometric precision of approximately 70–80 mas (about 0.1 pixel), an impressive calibration accuracy of approximately 1 mmag in the MST zero points, and a photometric accuracy of about 4 mmag for bright stars. Our studies demonstrate that MST CMOS can achieve photometric accuracy comparable to that of CCDs, highlighting the feasibility of large-scale CMOS-based optical time-domain surveys and their potential applications for cost optimization in future large-scale time-domain surveys, like the SiTian project.