云南天文台高分辨率斑点成像的新进展

本文报道了对天文目标：双星ＡＤＳ１６８００、ＡＤＳ１６１７３,三星Ｈｕ６６（ＡＤＳ１１３４４）和Ｈｌｄ１７１（ＡＤＳ１６６４８）进行的斑点成像观测及测量结果。介绍了所用的二维光子计数斑点像探测系统的性能,分析了探测系统的光子噪声、附加噪声和其它更复杂的噪声对斑点图的平均功率谱和重谱的影响。在讨论了改正重谱中的噪声偏差项时提出了对重谱基底施加正性约束的算法。测量的结果表明,实现了高精度的微射受限天文     

A new silicon avalanche photodiode photon counting detector module for astronomy

A new Silicon avalanche photodiode photon counting detector module with a peak detection efficiency of 45% and a maximum counting rate of more than 3,000,000cts/sec is described and its performance assessed over a range of operating conditions. The module should prove ideal for a wide variety of astronomical instrumentation as it covers the spectral range 350–1050nm and is compact, rugged and relatively cheap.     

Concept of High Speed Astronomical Instrumentation Based on Visible Light Photon Counters

The domain of high speed optical astrophysics is still quite unexplored. The availability of 10 meter diameter telescopes offers the unique possibility to investigate variability of faint objects at submillisecond time scales. In this paper I describe the concepts of a photometer and a spectrometer for high speed astronomical observations. The instruments are based on a photon counting detector developed for high energy physics, the Visible Light Photon Counter (VLPC). The detector has a quantum efficiency in the visible as high as 88% and performs photon counting with sub microsecond time resolution. The photometer is built using VLPC arrays. Adding a grating a VLPC array can be used in a time resolved spectrograph with medium resolution. This paper develops, starting from experimental data, the concept of the two VLPC based instruments and their application to time resolved photometry and spectroscopy of compact objects (pulsars, cataclysmic variables, low mass X-ray binary systems etc) and optical counterparts of Gamma Ray Bursts. The high speed optical observations are the ideal complement to X/γ rays and gravitational wave studies. The application of the instruments to the optical photometry of pulsars, the spectrophotometry of the prompt optical flash from Gamma Ray Bursts and the study of binary systems are discussed in detail: in the last two applications the instruments offer better opportunities than existing instruments.     

The Operation of Multi-beam Receiver of Delingha 13.7 m Telescope

Delingha 13.7 m telescope is one of the most important radio telescopes in China. Since installing the superconducting spectroscopic array receiver (SSAR) and adopting the On The Fly (OTF) observation mode, the telescope has operated for nearly 10 years. During this period, a large number of astronomical observation projects have been carried out and completed, a large amount of astronomical data have been accumulated, and a series of important scientific results have been achieved. This paper introduces the operating status of SSAR in astronomical observations, the problems in operations, as well as the fault phenomena and solutions. The performance test and performance analysis of SSAR are described in detail, including the receiver noise temperature and telescope system noise temperature, image rejection ratio (IRR), receiver stability, beam performance and so on. The updating and development of SSAR are listed, including the automatic adjustment of LO (Local Oscillator) power, the updating of pre-amplification circuits of the sideband separation superconducting mixer, and the optimization of control program, etc. This paper summarizes the experiences and rules, and connects the past with the future, for applying the experiences of the maintenance and operation of SSAR to the next-generation large-scale receiver system.     

Deka-keV X-ray emission associated with the onset of radio noise storms

Radio noise storms show that suprathermal electrons (a few tens of keV) are present in the vicinity of active regions during several hours or even a few days. Where and how these electrons are energized is not yet well known. A flare-like sudden energy release in the active region is in general observed at the onset of noise storms, either as a fully developed flare or, more often, as a soft X-ray brightening without conspicuous H signature. In order to investigate to what extent electrons energized in the active region contribute to the noise-storm emission in the overlying coronal structures, we combine radio imaging (Nançay radioheliograph) with X-ray spectral observations at photon energies of a few keV (GOES) and - for the first time - around 10 keV (WATCH/GRANAT). In two of four studied events the WATCH data show a significant excess of the deka-keV count rate above the expectation from an isothermal fit to the GOES fluxes. Although the electron population producing the deka-keV X-ray emission would be energetic enough to power the simultaneous radio noise storm, the much longer duration of the radio emission requires time-extended particle acceleration. The acceleration probably occurs in the corona overlying the X-ray emitting region, triggered by the processes which give rise to the X-ray brightenings.     

Multi-imaging and Bayesian estimation for photon counting with EMCCDs

A multi-imaging strategy is proposed and experimentally tested to improve the accuracy of photon counting with an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD), by taking into account the random nature of its on-chip gain and the possibility of multiple photodetection events on one pixel. This strategy is based on Bayesian estimation on each image, with a priori information given by the sum of the images. The method works even for images with large dynamic range, with more improvement in the low light level areas. In these areas, two thirds of the variance added by the EMCCD in a conventional imaging mode are removed, making the physical photon noise predominant in the detected image.     

Technique of polarimetric observations of faint objects at the 6-m BTA telescope

We describe the technique of spectropolarimetric observations allowing for the measurements of the Stokes parameters in one of the observational modes of the SCORPIO focal reducer of the 6-m BTA telescope of the SAO RAS. The characteristics of the instrument in the spectropolarimetric mode of observations are given. We present the algorithm of observational data reduction. The capabilities of the SCORPIO spectropolarimetric mode are demonstrated on the examples of observations of various astronomical objects.     

High speed photon-counting imager using a position sensitive diode

A new use for a 2-dimensional position sensitive diode (PSD) is described. A duolateral PSD was used with a microchannel plate image intensifier as a proof-of-concept photon counting (event driven) imager for astronomical imaging and photometry. This produced an imager capable of counting 25–30 kcps over the astronomical bands B, V & R, with an overall efficiency of ∼19%.     

Astronomical relativistic reference systems with multipolar expansion: the global one

With the rapid development of techniques for astronomical observations,the precision of measurements has been significantly increasing. Theories describing astronomical relativistic reference systems, which are the foundation for processing and interpreting these data now and in the future, may require extensions to satisfy the needs of these trends. Besides building a framework compatible with alternative theories of gravity and the pursuit of higher order post-Newtonian approximation, it will also be necessary to make the first order post-Newtonian multipole moments of celestial bodies be explicitly expressed in the astronomical relativistic reference systems.This will bring some convenience into modeling the observations and experiments and make it easier to distinguish different contributions in measurements. As a first step,the global solar system reference system is expressed as a multipolar expansion and the post-Newtonian mass and spin moments are shown explicitly in the metric which describes the coordinates of the system. The full expression of the global metric is given.     

Comparing modal noise and FRD of circular and non‐circular cross‐section fibres

Modal noise is a common source of noise introduced to the measurements by optical fibres and is particularly important for fibre‐fed spectroscopic instruments, especially for high‐resolution measurements. This noise source can limit the signal‐to‐noise ratio and jeopardize photon‐noise limited data. The subject of the present work is to compare measurements of modal noise and focal‐ratio degradation (FRD) for several commonly used fibres. We study the influence of a simple mechanical scrambling method (excenter) on both FRD and modal noise. Measurements are performed with circular and octagonal fibres from Polymicro Technology (FBP‐Series) with diameters of 100, 200, and 300μm and for square and rectangular fibres from CeramOptec, among others. FRD measurements for the same sample of fibres are performed as a function of wavelength. Furthermore, we replaced the circular fibre of the STELLA‐échelle‐spectrograph (SES) in Tenerife with an octagonal and found a SNR increase by a factor of 1.6 at 678 nm. It is shown in the laboratory that an excenter with a large amplitude and low frequency will not influence the FRD but will reduce modal noise rather effectively by up to 180%. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spectral density of the burst component of solar noise storms

A spectral analysis of the radio noise storm (NS) fluctuations has shown that the power spectrum of any NS is not flat but hyperbolic and is satisfactorily described by the expression G(F) ～ c/F. The spectrum is monotonic and contains no components exceeding the level of statistical fluctuations, i.e., the observations reveal no steady periodic or resonant properties of the emission source. Therefore, the universally accepted assumption about the NS formation from short type I bursts is in conflict with the observations, because the spectrum of the sum of short pulses is flat, while the total energy of all short bursts with durations of the order of one second in actual NSs accounts for only 3–5% of the total energy of the burst component. The remainining 95% of the energy is emitted as long-lived bursts with durations from 1–2 to 300 s. The listed NS properties are inconsistent with the hypothesis of their emission through the action of nanoflares, because the time it takes for the bulk of the energy to be released as pulses with durations >10 s exceeds considerably the lifetime of the events called nanoflares.     

Observations of mode coupling in the solar corona and bipolar noise storms

We review high-spatial-resolution observations of the Sun which reflect on the role of mode coupling in the solar corona, and present a number of new observations. We show that typically polarization inversion is seen at 5 GHz in active region sources near the solar limb, but not at 1.5 GHz. Although this is apparently in contradiction to the simplest form of mode coupling theory, in fact it remains consistent with current models for the active region emission. Microwave bursts show no strong evidence for polarization inversion. We discuss bipolar noise storm continuum emission in some detail, utilizing recent VLA observations at 327 MHz. We show that bipolar sources are common at 327 MHz. Further, the trailing component of the bipole is frequently stronger than the leading component, in apparent conflict with the leading-spot hypothesis. The observations indicate that at 327 MHz mode coupling is apparently strong at all mode-coupling layers in the solar corona. The 327 MHz observations require a much weaker magnetic field strength in the solar corona to explain this result than did earlier lower-frequency observations: maximum fields are 0.2 G. This is a much weaker field than is consistent with current coronal models.On leave from the Indian Institute for Astrophysics, Bangalore, India.     

Investigation of LO-Coupled Noise for a Sideband Separation Superconducting SIS Receiver

The Superconducting Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) receivers have become the preferred method for (sub)millimeter-wave radio astronomical observations due to the extremely low receiver noise temperature. The coupling noise of the local oscillator (LO) system is also a part of the receiver noise. In many years of astronomical observations, it is found that the LO-coupled noise cannot be completely ignored, which has a certain impact on the sensitivity of astronomical observations. The noise temperature of the superconducting SIS receiver was tested using two different kinds of signal generators as the primary signal source of the LO system. It is found that the base noise output by the signal generator can be coupled into the receiver to increase the receiver noise. By adding a narrow band filter to the output of the signal generator, the base noise of the signal generator can be filtered out, and this part noise of the receiver can be eliminated, the overall noise of the receiver is reduced, and the sensitivity of the telescope is improved.     

The analysis of indexed astronomical time series V. Fitting sinusoids to high-speed photometry

The estimation of the frequency, amplitude and phase of a sinusoid from observations contaminated by correlated noise is considered. It is assumed that the observations are regularly spaced, but may suffer missing values or long time stretches with no data. The typical astronomical source of such data is high-speed photoelectric photometry of pulsating stars. The study of the observational noise properties of nearly 200 real data sets is reported: noise can almost always be characterized as a random walk with superposed white noise. A scheme for obtaining weighted non-linear least-squares estimates of the parameters of interest, as well as standard errors of these estimates, is described. Simulation results are presented for both complete and incomplete data. It is shown that, in finite data sets, results are sensitive to the initial phase of the sinusoid.     

RTS2中新CCD类型扩展方法

CCD是天文望远镜中最常见的观测终端设备,也是望远镜自主控制系统中的重要组成部分。随着天文望远镜自主观测需求的不断出现以及技术的快速发展,开源的RTS2软件系统成为目前该领域研究中受到较多关注的系统之一。但RTS2支持的CCD设备较为有限,同时控制接口约定也相对固定。在针对部分特殊的CCD设备(如LAMOST中采用的32台CCD设备、选址用的部分CCD设备)时,仅实现原有类的方法是不够的。在深入分析RTS2源码的基础上,重点从参数、命令、协议扩展方面研究基于原有的Camera类,通过继承的方法构造新的CCD类型,实现对LAMOST项目的 CCD控制,取得了较好的效果,对在RTS2中集成望远镜系统其他类型设备也有较好的参考价值。     

Latitudinal Distribution of O2on Ganymede: Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope

To help constrain the spatial variation of oxygen on Jupiter's satellite Ganymede, and hence have more clues to its mode of production and stability, we have obtained spectral data from the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) for a single pole-to-pole latitudinal strip, along with several Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images in three narrow band visible filters. All observations were made of the trailing hemisphere. In the FOS data we observe both visible absorptions at 0.577 and 0.627 μm, associated with dense-phase oxygen (compressed gases, liquids, or solids). Filter options limited the WFPC2 observations to wavelengths near the weaker oxygen absorption at 0.627 μm. These observations suggest that the dense-phase or dimer oxygen form is predominantly found in equatorial and mid-latitudes. The spectroscopic absorption feature appears in both bright and dark terrains but may be somewhat weaker in dark regions, which is consistent with the smaller mean photon path length in the surface in darker areas. Therefore, the abundance of oxygen appears more dependent on latitude and longitude constraints than surface albedo. At the highest latitudes, where the ratio spectra have a strong upturn toward the blue, the oxygen bands do not appear. This relation suggests that dimer oxygen and ozone (as seen by Galileo) have opposite trends with latitude. Possible causes include competition or variation in the preferred stable form, which depends on temperature, solar ultraviolet flux, and/or surface age; enhancement of O₃at the poles due to plasma interactions; or viewing geometry effects that reduce the oxygen features at the poles when observed from Earth. The predominantly equatorial feature supports the production of O₂through plasma bombardment and favors defect trapping over physical adsorption of the dimer molecules in the surface. We briefly consider the implications of Ganymede's magnetosphere for our understanding of O₂and O₃distribution on Ganymede.     

Source subtraction for the extended Very Small Array and 33-GHz source count estimates

We describe the source subtraction strategy and observations for the extended Very Small Array (VSA), a cosmic microwave background interferometer operating at 33 GHz. A total of 453 sources were monitored at 33 GHz using a dedicated source subtraction baseline. 131 sources brighter than 20 mJy were directly subtracted from the VSA visibility data. Some characteristics of the subtracted sources, such as spectra and variability, are discussed. The 33-GHz source counts are estimated from a sample selected at 15 GHz. The selection of VSA fields in order to avoid bright sources introduces a bias into the observed counts. This bias is corrected and the resulting source count is estimated to be complete in the flux-density range 20–114 mJy. The 33-GHz source counts are used to calculate a correction to the VSA power spectrum for sources below the subtraction limit.     

边带分离型超导SIS接收机本振耦合噪声研究

超导SIS (Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor)接收机因极低的接收机噪声温度成为毫米波和亚毫米波段射电天文观测的首选.本振系统耦合噪声也是接收机噪声的一部分,在多年的天文观测中,发现本振耦合噪声无法完全忽略,对天文观测的灵敏度有一定影响.采用两个不同种类的信号发生器作为本振系统初级信号源,测试了超导SIS接收机的噪声温度,发现信号发生器输出的基底噪声能够耦合到接收机内部,从而增加接收机噪声强度.分析研究了本振系统热噪声和信号发生器基底噪声对接收机噪声的影响.通过在信号发生器输入端加入窄带滤波器滤除其基底噪声,消除了信号发生器基底噪声引入的接收机噪声,降低了接收机的整体噪声,提高了望远镜的灵敏度.     

二维光子计数系统

本文介绍了二维光子计数成象的原理;对二维光子计数系统进行了分类,并分析了各类二维光子计数系统的典型结构和工作原理;列表比较了六种二维光子计数器的性能指标;最后展望了这个领域的发展方向。