丽江高美古视宁度、等晕角及相干时间的探空测量

对高美古的折射率结构常数C_n~2廓线和常规气象参数廓线进行了探空测量.实验期间,白天视宁度ε_(FWHM)为3〃,等晕角θ_0为0.3〃,相干时间τ_0为0.4 ms左右.夜晚ε_(FWHM)为1.04〃,θ_0为1.00〃,τ_0为1.84 ms.通过计算TER(turbulent energyratio)以及Richardson数表明,视宁度主要来自近地面层和自由大气层湍流的贡献,边界层湍流贡献不大.距地面几米的强湍流层、对流层顶附近强湍流层以及风速梯度变化较大所对应的强湍流层构成了高美古湍流空间分布的主要特征.     

丽江高美古的二期选址--望远镜地面高度的确定

在丽江高美古前期选址工作的基础上[1～2],二期选址的望远镜地面高度的确定工作于2000年11月3日至2000年12月16日进行,采用30m铁塔的温度脉动测量装置,对6#选址观测点的近地面大气湍流进行反复多次测量,得到近地面不同高度(4～30m和8～22m)上每夜温度结构系数C2T的平均值,对观测取得的资料作进一步处理和分析,得到高美古6#观测点的望远镜地面高度为13～15m。     

膜圆顶及塔架对南极望远镜风载影响的仿真分析

为了充分利用Dome A地区绝佳的视宁度条件, 计划将南极望远镜安装在15m高的塔架上并使用轻质膜圆顶. 研究了在塔架和膜圆顶作用下风载对望远镜观测环境的影 响, 利用计算流体力学(Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD)分析了在10m·s^-1稳态风作用下,不同风向角、方位轴转动角以及镜筒转动角时,望远镜周围风速、湍动能的分布情况以及光程差的变化,同时研究了风屏对风速、湍动能的改善作用和带来的温升.结果表明,塔架和圆顶周围的风速与湍动能分布对风向的改变不敏感;迎风状态时望远镜附近的湍流分布与风速分布情况整体优于背风状态;当风速为10m·s^-1时,在距离风屏1m远、3m高的位置处风速降为来流风速的1/3至1/4,望远镜附近的平均温升值为0.044 K.     

丽江高美古的二期选址——望远镜地面高度的确定

在丽江高美古前期选址工作的基础上^[1-2]，二期选址的望远镜地面高度的确定工作于2000年11月3日至2000年12月16日进行，采用30m铁塔的温度脉动测量装置，对6#选址观测点的近地面大气湍流进行反复多次测量，得到近地面不同高度(4-30m和8-22m)上每夜温度结构系数CT^2的平均值，对观测取得的资料作进一步处理和分析，得到高美古6#观测点的望远镜地面高度为13～15m。     

南极5 m太赫兹望远镜指向与调焦校准精度分析

指向校准与副面调焦是天线测量的重要组成部分,对射电望远镜实际的观测性能有重要影响.根据南极5 m太赫兹望远镜(DATE5)指向精度和离焦增益损失的指标要求,计算得到了指向校准与副面调焦观测过程中对信噪比的要求,并以此为依据选取了若干可行的候选校准源,包括太阳系行星和超致密电离氢区.分析了大气吸收和校准源角直径对测量精度的影响.仿真分析结果表明:望远镜在南极工作时,这些校准源在一定的高度角范围内可以提供足够强的流量密度,用来验证预先建立的太赫兹和光学望远镜两光轴指向偏差模型以及副面调焦模型.     

基于光学辅助指向测量的太赫兹望远镜指向误差模型研究

针对太赫兹波段天文点源目标较少, 指向测量相对困难的特点, 研究了利用与太赫兹天线共轴的小型光学望远镜来辅助太赫兹望远镜指向测量以及建立指向误差修正模型的方法. 依托紫金山天文台1.2 m斜轴式太赫兹天线开展了光学辅助指向测量的实验研究, 利用一台安装在天线背架上的100mm口径折射式光学望远镜获得了优于2$''$的指向测量精度. 此外, 通过对斜轴天线的结构分析以及大气折射和本地恒星时(Local Sidereal Time, LST)偏差等误差来源的分析, 建立了包含23个误差项的斜轴式光学指向修正模型, 实现了约3$''$的拟合精度. 最后, 借助高精度数字摄影测量对光电轴一致性进行了标定, 并针对其对指向模型精度的影响进行了讨论. 研究成果将为南极5 m太赫兹望远镜(The 5m Dome A Terahertz Explorer, DATE5)及其他太赫兹望远镜提供指向测量和指向修正模型方面的技术参考.     

不同测站近地小行星地基观测效能评估研究

目标的完备性搜索是开展近地小行星预警和防御的前提. 为量化评价近地小行星观测效能, 提高监测设备使用效率, 提出一种综合望远镜参数和测站天文条件的观测效能评估方法. 以观测目标信噪比作为检测指标, 设定检测条件形成目标检测方法, 定义评价指标用于评估近地小行星观测效能. 再基于近地小行星轨道数据和尺度分布模型, 建立近地小行星轨道数据模拟样本库. 最后选取中国科学院紫金山天文台盱眙观测站和中国科学院国家天文台冷湖观测台址, 仿真分析近地天体望远镜对直径0.01--30km近地小行星的观测效能, 结果表明: 不考虑两观测站年有效观测时间差异, 近地天体望远镜在冷湖观测全尺寸模拟样本的效能比在盱眙提高了5.21倍, 其中对1km以上直径目标的观测效能相当, 对1km以下直径目标的观测效能差异开始显现, 对0.1km以下直径目标冷湖优势更显著.     

上海天文台斑点相机及观测实验

斑点干涉成像技术已有几十年的历史,该技术在双星天文观测上得到了广泛的应用,取得了一系列的研究成果.上海天文台研制的一台斑点相机安装在1.56 m望远镜上,主要用于双星、三星以及延展目标的斑点干涉成像观测.重点介绍斑点相机的设计、调试以及图像重建工作,并结合双星和三星目标的观测情况,给出高分辨率重建图像及角距离测量结果.实验结果表明:在1.56 m望远镜上开展斑点干涉观测实验,能够接近望远镜衍射极限分辨率水平.     

8m中国巨型太阳望远镜偏振光学设计

望远镜的仪器偏振是影响太阳磁场测量的重要因素,为了获得精确的太阳磁场信息,对大型太阳望远镜光学系统进行偏振优化设计非常必要.针对8 m中国巨型太阳望远镜(Chinese Giant Solar Telescope, CGST)的偏振设计需求,提出了基于四镜偏振补偿结构的望远镜折轴光学系统设计方案.基于偏振光线追迹方法,分析了该方案仪器偏振在望远镜光瞳和视场上的分布特性以及视场分布特性随望远镜运动和波长的变化.结果表明,在HeI 1.083μm和FeI 1.565μm磁敏谱线所在的近红外波段, CGST仪器偏振满足2×10^-4测量精度要求的“无偏振视场”为0.91′,而在可见光波段该“无偏振视场”为0.5′.     

1米太阳望远镜光轴变化实测

针对1 m太阳望远镜导星镜光轴与望远镜光轴在跟踪过程中的相对变化对光电导行系统的影响,从数值模拟和实测两方面进行了深入分析.首先介绍1 m太阳望远镜及其光电导行系统的基本结构,并建立主镜镜筒的基本有限元模型,分析弯沉随镜筒指向高度的变化规律,模拟有弯沉存在时引入的跟踪误差及变化规律.然后根据该望远镜的系统结构,提出了望远镜光轴相对于导星镜光轴变化的实测方法.最后通过实测数据获得了望远镜光轴相对于导星镜光轴变化随镜筒指向高度的变化规律.     

Multi-aperture seeing profiler with multiple guide stars

The daytime atmospheric turbulence profile is crucial for the design of both optical systems and the control algorithm of a solar Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics(MCAO) system. The Multi-Aperture Seeing Profiler(MASP) is a portable instrument which can measure the daytime turbulence profile up to~30 km. It consists of two portable small telescopes that can deliver performance similar to a SolarDifferential Image Motion Monitor +(S-DIMM+) on a 1.0 m solar telescope. In the original design of MASP, only two guide stars are used to retrieve the turbulence profile. In this paper, we studied the usage of multiple guide stars in MASP using numerical simulation, and found that there are three main advantages.Firstly, the precision of the turbulence profile can be increased, especially at a height of about 15 km, which is important for characterizing turbulence at the tropopause. Secondly, the equivalent diameter of MASP can be increased up to 30%, which will reduce the cost and weight of the instruments. Thirdly, the vertical resolution of the turbulence profile near the ground increases with the help of multiple guide stars.     

A Review of Daytime Atmospheric Optical Turbulence Profile Detection Technology

Atmospheric turbulence has been confirmed as the primary source affecting the quality of ground-based telescope image. To reduce the effect of atmosphere, a good site should be selected, and adaptive optics (AO) should be installed for the telescope. In general, the daytime atmospheric turbulence is more intense than that at night under the effect of solar radiation. Numerous solar telescopes have built AO systems worldwide. Conventional AO is only capable of improving the image quality in a small field of view, whereas it cannot satisfy the needs of a large field of view. The novel wide field adaptive optical system is capable of achieving a large field of view and high-resolution images, whereas the atmospheric turbulence profile should be accurately detected, which is the prerequisite and key parameter of the novel AO system. Moreover, the astronomical high-resolution technology in accordance with the turbulence imaging theory requires more detailed detection of turbulence. Accordingly, a brief review about the latest detection technology of the daytime optical turbulence profile is valuable for astronomical observations. Besides, the parameters of atmospheric turbulence are briefly introduced. Subsequently, SNODAR, SHABAR, MOSP, DIMM+, A-MASP, and other detection technologies of the stratified atmospheric turbulence for daytime are primarily presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of the different technologies are summarized.     

像运动法测量视宁度参数中曝光时间的重要性及其测定

大气湍流会导致天文图像的像质衰减 ,而视宁度r0 则是描述这种衰减的特征参数。在本文中 ,我们给出了像运动法测量中r0 和曝光时间之间的关系 :曝光时间必须小于大气相干时间 ,否则测量的r0 值将偏大。基于这个原因以及对仪器检测的需要 ,我们必须对视宁度测量仪的曝光时间进行准确地测量。为此我们设计了一种实验方法来测定视频CCD的曝光时间 ,实验的结果表明这种方法是可靠的     

FAST单元面板面型检测算法研究

500 m口径球面射电望远镜(Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope,FAST)是一个超大口径的可动望远镜,有三项技术创新,一是选址,二是轻型馈源索支撑,三是主动反射面。在主动反射面上,单元面板的面型和面板的出厂加工精度对电磁波在反射面的汇聚有很大影响。FAST主反射面由4 600块三角形反射面板拼接而成,每块面板为边长11 m三角形,这对FAST反射面面板的测量技术提出了更高的要求。摄影测量直接在影像上进行量测,无需接触物体本身;所摄影像信息丰富,可以从中获得所研究物体的大量几何信息和物理信息;适用于大范围、多目标测量,效率高。目前世界上最大的射电望远镜,如GBT和ARECIBO都是采用摄影测量技术进行反射面面形检测。在对现有的面型检测技术调研并试验后,提出基于数字近景摄影测量的方法,对FAST反射面11 m单元面板的面型进行检测,数分钟完成反射面板面型的一次检测,测量精度达到2.5 mm,经过调整后的单元面板的面型精度达到了3.0 mm,结果表明摄影测量应用于FAST反射面单元面板面型检测是可行的。     

Stellar intensity interferometry: Prospects for sub-milliarcsecond optical imaging

Using kilometric arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes at short wavelengths, intensity interferometry may increase the spatial resolution achieved in optical astronomy by an order of magnitude, enabling images of rapidly rotating hot stars with structures in their circumstellar disks and winds, or mapping out patterns of nonradial pulsations across stellar surfaces. Intensity interferometry (once pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss) connects telescopes only electronically, and is practically insensitive to atmospheric turbulence and optical imperfections, permitting observations over long baselines and through large airmasses, also at short optical wavelengths. The required large telescopes (～10 m) with very fast detectors (～ns) are becoming available as the arrays primarily erected to measure Cherenkov light emitted in air by particle cascades initiated by energetic gamma rays. Planned facilities (e.g., CTA, Cherenkov Telescope Array) envision many tens of telescopes distributed over a few square km. Digital signal handling enables very many baselines (from tens of meters to over a kilometer) to be simultaneously synthesized between many pairs of telescopes, while stars may be tracked across the sky with electronic time delays, in effect synthesizing an optical interferometer in software. Simulated observations indicate limiting magnitudes around m_V = 8, reaching angular resolutions ～30 μarcsec in the violet. The signal-to-noise ratio favors high-temperature sources and emission-line structures, and is independent of the optical passband, be it a single spectral line or the broad spectral continuum. Intensity interferometry directly provides the modulus (but not phase) of any spatial frequency component of the source image; for this reason a full image reconstruction requires phase retrieval techniques. This is feasible if sufficient coverage of the interferometric (u, v)-plane is available, as was verified through numerical simulations. Laboratory and field experiments are in progress; test telescopes have been erected, intensity interferometry has been achieved in the laboratory, and first full-scale tests of connecting large Cherenkov telescopes have been carried out. This paper reviews this interferometric method in view of the new possibilities offered by arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, and outlines observational programs that should become realistic already in the rather near future.     

Pluto's Atmosphere And A Targeted-Occultation Search For Other Bound Kbo Atmospheres

Processes relevant to Pluto's atmosphere are discussed,and our current knowledge is summarized, including results of two stellar occultationsby Pluto that were observed in 2002. The question of whether other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs)may have bound atmospheres is considered, and observational indicators for KBO atmospheresare described. The definitive detection of a KBO atmosphere could be established withtargeted stellar-occultation observations. These data can also establish accurate diametersfor these objects and be used to detect possible nearby companions. Strategies for acquiringoccultation data with portable, airborne, and fixed telescopes are evaluated in terms of thenumber of KBO occultations per year that should be observable. For the sample of 29 currentlyknown KBOs with H ≤ 5.2, (radius ≤ 300 km for a geometricalbedo of 0.04), we expect about 4 events per year would yield good results for a (stationary) 6.5-m telescope. A network of portable0.36-m telescopes should be able to observe 6 events per year, and a 2.5-m airborne telescopewould have about 200 annual opportunities to observe KBO occultations.     

The effect of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on rising flux tubes in the convection zone

If the solar dynamo operates at the bottom of the convection zone, then the magnetic flux created there has to rise to the surface. When the convection zone is regarded as passive, the rising flux is deflected by the Coriolis force to emerge at rather high latitudes, poleward of typical sunspot zones (Choudhuri and Gilman, 1987; Choudhuri, 1989). Choudhuri and D'Silva (1990) included the effects of convective turbulence on the rising flux through (a) giant cell drag and (b) momentum exchange by small-scale turbulence. The momentum exchange mechanism could enable flux tubes of radii not more than a few hundred km to emerge radially at low latitudes, but the giant cell drag mechanism required unrealistically small flux tube radii (a few meters for a reasonable giant cell upflow) to counteract the Coriolis force. We now include the additional effect of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a symmetrical flux ring caused by the azimuthal flow induced during its rise. The azimuthal flow crosses the threshold for the instability only if there is a giant cell upflow to drag the flux tubes appreciably. In the absence of such a drag, as in the case of a passive convection zone or in the case of momentum exchange by small-scale turbulence, the azimuthal velocity never becomes large enough to cause the instability, leaving the results of the previous calculations unaltered. The giant cell drag, aided by Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, however, becomes now a viable mechanism for curbing the Coriolis force - 10⁴ G flux tubes with radii of a few hundred km being dragged radially by upflows of 70 m s^-1.     

地球大气边界层结构和天文视宁度

依据声雷达资料和其他边界层资料讨论了大气边界层结构、地形等对视宁度的影响和有关选址问题．     

PSD法测量大型射电望远镜副面位姿

指向精度是大型射电望远镜天线具有挑战性的关键技术指标.在望远镜运行中,方位俯仰角的变化、重力以及日照等对副面撑杆的综合影响会引起望远镜的副面位姿改变从而引起指向误差的增加和天线效率的降低.基于天马65 m射电望远镜,使用位置传感器装置(PSD)法构建了副面位置偏移量测定系统,可以实时采集副面的3维位移数据,构建重力模型,将测试结果与射电法构建的现有副面模型进行对比,有较好的一致性.此外,该系统可以分析日照(引起撑腿局部温度效应)引起的副面位移情况,也可以监视风载和瞬时启停对副面位姿的影响.     

SLODAR: measuring optical turbulence altitude with a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor

This paper discusses the use of Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensors to determine the vertical distribution of atmospheric optical turbulence above large telescopes. It is demonstrated that the turbulence altitude profile can be recovered reliably from time-averaged spatial cross-correlations of the local wavefront slopes for Shack–Hartmann observations of binary stars. The method, which is referred to as SLODAR, is analogous to the well known SCIDAR scintillation profiling technique, and a calibration against contemporaneous SCIDAR observations is shown. Hardware requirements are simplified relative to the scintillation method, and the number of suitable target objects is larger. The implementation of a Shack–Hartmann based turbulence monitor for use at the William Herschel Telescope is described. The system will be used to optimize adaptive optical observations at the telescope and to characterize anisoplanatic variations of the corrected point spread function.