在97.8GHz处测量地球大气的不透明度

用研制的全自动辐射计在97．8GHz上测量南京市内大气的不透明度以及这种不透明度随时间的变化．辐射计记录大气在不同天顶高度的辐射温度,由此测出天顶方向的大气不透明度。在56小时的测量时间内,取得了1400多组数据,拟合得到了在观测时段内天顶方向的大气不透明度在0．2至0．7之间,典型值为0．4,表明测试地点的大气条件允许进行3mm波段的射电天文观测．由于在工作频段内大气不透明度的主要来源是对流层水汽的吸收,测量的不透明度可用来直接反映大气内水汽的含量,并实时校准大气吸收．     

大气492 GHz亚毫米波不透明度的测量

使用移动式亚毫米波望远镜(POST)在位于青藏高原海拔3200米的紫金山天文台德令哈射电天文观测站址测量地球大气492GHz频率处天顶方向的不透明度(τ0)的结果．在1999—2000年冬季和2000—2001年冬季的两个观测季节内累计共进行了约870个小时的测量，取得了25842组τ0的有效数据．对数据的统计表明，观测季节内τ0值主要分布在1．5—3．0之间．观测时段内大气不透明度τ0≤1．0的时间比例约占3％．在给出实测资料的基础上，将所测量的亚毫米波不透明度与国际现有亚毫米波台址的不透明度进行了初步比较．     

大气衰减以及毫米波与亚毫米波观测的强度校准

在标准的斩波轮校准法的基础上,讨论毫米波与亚毫米波天文观测的校准过程。用一个常温温标可以为单边带和双边带接收模式建立强度标准。在毫米波和亚毫米波段,地面观测受到多变的大气不透明度的普遍影响。这一效应对双边带接收机尤为严重。文中讨论了大气效应在不同中频下带来的误差,并计算了有关的误差范围,文章指出了在大气不透明度显著时,单边带校准是能够将误差降低在１０％以内的有效方法。提出一种双边带观测、单边带校准的原理结构,作为代替单边带校准的一种变形模式以满足毫米波及亚毫米波观测的需要。     

大气衰减以及毫米波与亚毫米波观测的强度校准

在标准的斩波轮校准法的基础上，讨论毫米波与亚毫米波天观测的校准过程，用一个常温温标可以为单边带和双边带接收模式建立强度标准。在毫米波和亚毫米波段，地面观测受到多变的大气不透明度的普遍影响。这一效应对双边带接收机尤为严重。中讨论了大气效应在不同中频下带来的误差，并计算了有关的误差范围。章指出了大气不透明度显时，单边带校准是能够将误差降低在１０％以内的有效方法。提出一种双边带观测，单边带校准是     

天文大气折射的较差测量方法及试观测结果

受到大气折射的影响,天文观测上通常回避仰角15°以下的目标的观测,但作为大气折射的完整理论研究,低仰角下的大气折射仍然是值得分析探究的.特别是对某些工程应用方面,低仰角的目标有时必须要观测.提出了一套新的利用较差方法测定大气折射的思路.利用一台较大视场的望远镜从天顶开始,在不同高度上对星空作一系列观测,计算不同天顶距处大气折射函数的各阶导数,最后经数值积分可给出大气折射实测值.该方法不依赖于严格的地方参数和复杂精密的观测仪器,并且观测原理相对简单. 2007年底,利用一台简易的大视场望远镜在兴隆观测站进行了试验观测,根据较差方法实测得到真天顶距44.8°至87.5°的大气折射值,初步证明了大气折射较差测量方法的可行性.受到观测条件的限制,本次实测结果精度有限,偶然误差最大约为6",并且存在一定的系统差.在天顶距84°时,与普尔科沃大气折射表的差值约为15".如何消除因积分模型误差引入的累积误差是今后需要解决的关键问题.     

八毫米波段太阳射电望远镜

为了观测八毫米波段太阳辐射及测量该波段的大气吸收,我们研制了一台射电望远镜,辐射计中心频率为35GHz.用抛物面天线作相对测量,用最佳角锥喇叭天线作绝对测量,以室温和低温黑体作噪声标准.     

低地平高度日食射电观测的特殊问题

为了解决1980年低地平高度的日食射电观测所提出的一些特殊问题:大气吸收扣除和大气折射改正。本文讨论了一种近似模拟大气质量函数的公式,找出了“大气等效厚度”的最佳值;并对云南天文台所在的凤凰山地区的天顶方向总吸收Γ_0值做了近似估计和实测(3.2cm波段)。考虑了低地平高度的大气折射计算公式和日食射电观测所需的大气折射改正的计算步骤。     

致密陡谱源1150+497(4C49.22)的射电研究

利用美国甚长基线阵,在5GHz和8GHz波段观测致密陡谱源(CSS)1150+497,获得的5GHz总流量图显示1150+497有单边喷流结构。在5GHz波段该源的西南方向探测到3个亮结,在东北方向探测到一个亮结。在8GHz波段该源的西南方向探测到2个亮结。在5GHz波段,根据子源A和E自1982~2001年间3个时段的VLBI观测成图结果,拟合出它们的分离速度为0.478±0.007mas/year。     

低纬子午环配备CCD探测器(Ⅲ)——几项球面天文修正

本文用投影椭圆的方法推导了子午方向的天顶距测定值应加的星径曲率改正、以及星过仪器卯酉方向的时刻和天顶距测定值的相应改正;还推导了子午方向观测中由于过任一天体的赤经圈投影与子午面之间夹角的变化对量度坐标x测定值的影响,所有这些都是由于转轴观测和星象偏离芯片相对中心引起的。文章还推导了视场中任一星象相对于芯片相对中心的大气折射和周年光行差较差改正。并给出了以//2(x′-x)和1/2(y′-y)为引数的改正公式,同时还得出,对于天顶距大于15°的观测,量度坐标x的大气折射较差改正可以忽略不计。     

第十一届国际天文奥赛实测题高年组

1.恒星监测。在孟买对一颗亮星整夜进行监测。使用14″望远镜,在三个波段(B,V,R)。假设观测波长对于观测恒星可以近似为有效波长450nm,550nm 和700nm。随着夜晚时间的不同,恒星在不同的天顶距被观测,因此星光穿过不同厚度的地球大气。由此,由地球大气产生的消光(ex-tinction)也在发生变化。消光值在恒星最     

Measurements of 460 GHz Atmospheric Opacity at Yangbajing Observational Station†

In order to assess the submillimeter wave observational conditions of Yangbajin, a Portable Submillimeter Telescope (POST) is used to measure the zenith atmospheric opacity at 460 GHz from November 2008 to December 2008. The results show that the quartiles of atmospheric opacity during the observing time at 460 GHz at Yangbajin Observatory is 1.25, 1.42 and 1.63, and the time proportion of atmospheric opacity less than 1 is about 3.4%. At last, the submillimeter wave site conditions of Yangbajin with those of other submillimeter observatories in the world are compared, and the possible causes that may influence the submillimeter atmospheric opacity are explored.     

Broadband submillimeter measurements of the full Moon center brightness temperature and application to a lunar eclipse

We report on observations of the full Moon brightness temperature covering the frequency range of 300-950 GHz, and also on observations of the lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000, though only covering the frequency range of 165-365 GHz due to poor atmospheric transmission at higher frequencies. All observations were performed from the summit of Mauna Kea (HI) using a Fourier Transform Spectrometer mounted on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and supplemented by measurements of the atmospheric opacity using a 183 GHz Water Vapor Monitor. The telescope was pointed to the center of the lunar disk (with a footprint of ∼45-15 km on the Moon at 300 through 900 GHz). In order to obtain the correct values of the Moon brightness temperatures at all frequencies we carefully corrected for the atmospheric absorption, which varies across the submillimeter domain. This correction is fully described. The measured pre-eclipse brightness temperature is around 337 K in the 165-365 GHz range. This temperature slightly increases with frequency to reach ∼353 K at 950 GHz, according to previous broader band data. The magnitude of the temperature drop observed during the eclipse at 265 GHz (central frequency of the band covered) was about ∼70 K, in very good agreement with previous millimeter-wave measurements of other lunar eclipses. We detected, in addition, a clear frequency trend in the temperature drop that has been compared to a thermal and microwave emission model of the lunar regolith, with the result of a good match of the relative flux drop at different frequencies between model and measurements.     

Characterization of the atmosphere above a site for millimeter wave astronomy

The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is a challeging scientific project managed by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), it is being developed at 30 km North of the city of Cagliari, Italy. The goal of the SRT project is to build a general purpose, fully steerable, 64 m diameter radio telescope, capable of operating with high efficiency in the centimeter and millimeter frequency range (0.3–100 GHz). In portions of this frequency range, especially towards the high end, astronomical observations can be heavily deteriorated by non-optimal atmospheric conditions, especially by water vapor content. The water molecule permanent electric dipole in fact, leads to pressure broadened rotational transitions around the 22.23 GHz spectral line. Furthermore, water vapor’s continuum absorption and emission may influence higher frequency observations too. To a lower degree, cloud liquid black body radiation can also affect centimeter and millimeter observations. In addition to this, inhomogeneities in water vapor distributions can cause signal phase errors which introduce a great amount of uncertainty to VLBI mode observations. The Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari (OA-CA) has obtained historical timeseries of radiosonde profiles conducted at the airport of Cagliari. Through the radiosonde measurements and an appropriate radiative transfer model, we have performed a statistical analysis of the SRT site’s atmosphere which accounts for atmospheric opacity at different frequencies, integrated water vapor (IWV), integrated liquid water (ILW) and cloud cover distributions during the year. This will help to investigate in which period of the year astronomical observations at different frequencies should be performed preferably. The results show that, at the SRT site, K-band astronomical observations are possible all year round, the median opacity at 22.23 GHz is 0.10 Np in the winter (Dec-Jan-Feb) and 0.16 Np in the summer (Jun-Jul-Aug). Integrated water vapor during winter months ranges, on average, between 7 and 15 mm. Cloud cover is usually not present for more than 36% of the time during the year. The atmospheric opacity study indicates that observations at higher frequencies (50–100 GHz) may be performed usefully: the median opacity at 100 GHz is usually below or equal to 0.2 Np in the period that ranges from January to April.     

Diffuse Component Spectra of Solar Active Regions at Submillimeter Wavelengths

Solar maps at 212 and 405 GHz obtained by the Solar Submillimetric Telescope (SST) show regions of enhanced brightness temperature, which coincide with the location of active regions. A statistical study of the radio emission from these active regions was performed for the first time at such high frequencies during 23 days on June and July 2002, when the atmospheric opacity was low. The brightest regions on the maps were chosen for this study, where the brightness excess observed varies from 3 to 20% above quiet Sun levels (i.e., 200–1000 K) at both wavelengths. Sizes of the regions of enhanced emission calculated at half the maximum value were estimated to be between 2′ and 7′. These sizes agree with observed sizes of active regions at other wavelengths such as Hα and ultraviolet. An important result is that the flux density spectra of all sources increase toward submillimeter frequencies, yielding flux density spectral index with an average value of 2.0. The flux density of the active region sources were complemented with that from maps at 17 and 34 GHz from the Nobeyama Radio Heliograph. The resulting spectra at all four frequencies were fit considering the flux density to be due to thermal bremsstrahlung from the active region. In the calculations, the source radius was assumed to be the mean of the measured values at 212 and 405 K. The effective temperatures of the radio emitting source, assumed homogeneous, obtained from this fit were 0.6–2.9 × 10⁴ K, for source diameters of 2′–7′.     

Laboratory measurements of the microwave opacity of hydrochloric acid vapor in a carbon dioxide atmosphere

Laboratory measurements of the microwave opacity of HCl in a CO₂ atmosphere have been conducted in the S (13.3 cm), X (3.6 cm), and K (1.4 cm) microwave bands at a pressure of 7.2 bar and at two different mixing ratios. The results are consistent with an opacity model employing the Van Vleck-Weisskopf lineshape applied to the published submillimeter line intensities of HCl (JPL Catalog [Pickett et al., 1998, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Trans. 60, 883-890]) and empirically fitted with a modeled parameter for CO₂ broadening. Based on the deep atmospheric abundance of HCl inferred from near-infrared measurements [Dalton et al., 2000, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 32, 1120], the resulting modeled HCl opacity is constrained to have a small effect on the overall microwave absorption spectrum of Venus, but can be used in developing a more accurate radiative transfer model.     

Laboratory measurements of the Ka-band (7.5 mm to 9.2 mm) opacity of phosphine (PH3) and ammonia (NH3) under simulated conditions for the Cassini-Saturn encounter

Recently, a model for the centimeter-wavelength opacity of PH₃ under conditions characteristic of the outer planets was developed by Hoffman et al. (2001, PhD thesis), based on centimeter wavelength laboratory measurements. New laboratory measurements have been conducted which show that this model is also accurate at low pressures and temperatures, and at millimeter wavelengths such as will be employed in Cassini Ka-band (9.3 mm) radio occultation studies. The opacity of PH₃ in a hydrogen/helium (H₂/He) atmosphere has been measured at frequencies in the Ka-band region at 32.7 GHz (9.2 mm), 35.6 GHz (8.4 mm), 37.7 GHz (8.0 mm), and 39.9 GHz (7.5 mm) at pressures of 0.5, 1, and 2 bar and at temperatures of 295, 209, and 188 K. Additionally, new high-precision laboratory measurements of the opacity of NH₃ in an H₂/He atmosphere have been conducted under the same temperature and pressure conditions described for PH₃. These new measurements better constrain the NH₃ opacity model supporting use of a Ben-Reuven lineshape model. These measurements will also elucidate the interpretation of millimeter wavelength observations conducted with the NRAO/VLA at 43 GHz (7 mm).     

SMA observations of the magnetic fields around a low-mass protostellar system

Observations of the submillimeter polarized dust emission is an important tool to study the role of the magnetic fields in the evolutions of molecular clouds and in the star formation processes. The Submillimeter Array (SMA) is the first imaging submillimeter interferometer. The installation of quarter wave plates in front of the 345 GHz receivers has allowed to carry out polarimetric observations. We present high angular resolution 345 GHz SMA observations of polarized dust emission towards the low-mass protostellar system NGC 1333 IRAS 4A. We show that in this system the observed magnetic field morphology is in agreement with the standard theoretical models of formation of low-mass stars in magnetized molecular clouds at scales of a few hundred AU; gravity has overcome magnetic support and the magnetic field traces a clear hourglass shape. The magnetic field is substantially more important than turbulence in the evolution of the system and the initial misalignment of the magnetic and spin axes may have been important in the formation of the binary system.     

Evidence that Synchrotron Emission from Nonthermal Electrons Produces the Increasing Submillimeter Spectral Component in Solar Flares

We investigate the origin of the increasing spectra observed at submillimeter wavelengths detected in the flare on 2 November 2003 starting at 17:17 UT. This flare, classified as an X8.3 and 2B event, was simultaneously detected by RHESSI and the Solar Submillimeter Telescope (SST) at 212 and 405 GHz. Comparison of the time profiles at various wavelengths shows that the submillimeter emission resembles that of the high-energy X rays observed by RHESSI whereas the microwaves observed by the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) resemble that of ∼50 keV X rays. Moreover, the centroid position of the submillimeter radiation is seen to originate within the same flaring loops of the ultraviolet and X-ray sources. Nevertheless, the submillimeter spectra are distinct from the usual microwave spectra, appearing to be a distinct spectral component with peak frequency in the THz range. Three possibilities to explain this increasing radio spectra are discussed: (1) gyrosynchrotron radiation from accelerated electrons, (2) bremsstrahlung from thermal electrons, and (3) gyrosynchrotron emission from the positrons produced by pion or radioactive decay after nuclear interactions. The latter possibility is ruled out on the grounds that to explain the submillimeter observations requires 3000 to 2×10⁵ more positrons than what is inferred from X-ray and γ-ray observations. It is possible to model the emission as thermal; however, such sources would produce too much flux in the ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelengths. Nevertheless we are able to explain both spectral components at microwave and submillimeter wavelengths by gyrosynchrotron emission from the same population of accelerated electrons that emit hard X rays and γ rays. We find that the same 5×10³⁵ electrons inferred from RHESSI observations are responsible for the compact submillimeter source (0.5 arcsec in radius) in a region of 4500 G low in the atmosphere, and for the traditional microwave spectral component by a more extended source (50 arcsec) in a 480 G magnetic field located higher up in the loops. The extreme values in magnetic field and source size required to account for the submillimeter emission can be relaxed if anisotropy and transport of the electrons are taken into account.