上海天文台VLBI本地站程度

介绍了用于上海天台VLBI系统的本地站程度,它主要控制余山VLBI25m站的一些专用设备,这些设备与进口的通用设备组成一个完整的VLBI系统,从而能进行规范的VLBI观测。     

VLBI台站监管系统的研制与应用

VLBI台站监管系统是绕月探测工程VLBI测轨分系统应用软件的一个重要组成部分。其主要功能是在VLBI观测期间实时监管各测站参试设备运行状况,采集参试设备数据信息并进行处理分析与存档,当系统出现问题时能立即指出问题所在;另外,还实时提供必要的有关数据给VLBI数据处理中心做相关处理。VLBI台站监管系统在嫦娥探月一期工程实施期间运行稳定、可靠,对VLBI测轨任务的圆满完成起到了积极的作用。目前,它仍在探月工程的常规观测中发挥作用。     

VLBI技术新进展

阐述了VLBI设备的现状;在20世纪70、80年代建造起来的一些VLBI观测设备已较陈旧，部分技术已经过时。随着现代技术的快速发展以及科学研究的更高目标，发展VLBI新技术是一项重要任务；给出了VLBI各方面新技术的进展情况；新科学项目的实施是新技术发展的重要环节，所以同时也介绍了VLBI的一些新科学计划的最新情况。     

VLBI标准接口的发展

VLBI标准接口是近年来在VLBI技术中诞生的一个新概念,它旨在解决多年来各VLBI数据传输系统不兼容的问题．该文阐述了VLBI数据传输系统的发展历史,包括传统的记录／回放系统和新兴的网络数据传输两方面的内容;说明了VLBI标准接口的作用和意义;并分别介绍了VLBI标准接口规范3方面的内容:VLBI标准接口件规范(VSI-H)、VLBI标准接口软件规范(VSI-S)和VLBI标准接口网络规范(VSI-E)．     

实时VLBI技术

随着通信技术的发展出现了用数据通讯网络代替磁带记录与传输 ,将数据直接传至数据中心处理的实时VLBI技术 ,它包括准实时和真实时VLBI两个技术层次 ,是VLBI技术的一次飞跃。实时VLBI除具备传统VLBI的高精度、高灵敏度和全天候、全天时被动观测能力以外 ,还具有设备简化、自动化程度高、实时性、易于利用现代通信技术获得宽带能力与高灵敏度等突出特点。它在VLBI台站检测、航天器精密跟踪、UT1加强观测和传统的测地和天文学观测领域均有重要的科学意义和实用价值。     

射电源结构的研究和VLBI

在短短十九年里,VLBI技术已经发展为具有毫角秒高分辨率成图观测能力的独一无二的技术,对天体物理研究作出了相当大的贡献。VLBI系统将成为今后十到十五年里最有希望和最重要的射电天文观测设备。 本文从回顾射电望远镜发展的简史出发,说明VLBI已日益成为射电观测手段的主要发展方向之一;文章总结了VLBI功能发展的现状及其在主要探测领域——致密射电源的研究中所得到的观测结果的概貌,阐明在这样的背景和基础上,VLBI进一步发展的方向;最后简单介绍今后十来年里可能发展或建成的VLBI系统。     

我国探月工程VLBI相关处理机简介

甚长基线干涉测量(VLBI)是重要的射电天文技术,具有极高的空间分辨率,是国际上广泛采用的深空探测器高精度角位置测量手段[1]".相关处理机是VLBI数据预处理的核心设备.由于VLBI观测数据的相关处理具有数据密集和计算密集的双重特点,普通计算机的性能难以达到对数据处理速度的要求,需要有专用的高速硬件数据处理单元来完成相关处理.我国探月工程VLBI地面测控系统中所使用的硬件相关处理机是基于大容量、高性能的在线可编程门阵列(FPGA),自主研制的高速数据处理单元,可以实时处理每台站最高速率达1 Gb/s的数据,其数据处理结果,经过软件验证并与欧空局(ESA)提供的数据进行了比较,结果符合良好.     

Mark5B格式器及10G网络传输系统在VLBI中的应用

由于遥远的天体发出的无线电信号极其微弱,信噪比极低,VLBI系统要想得到较高的测量精度,必须尽量加大测量带宽和提高采样位数,但是这样会导致VLBI终端(比如数字基带转换器)产生的观测数据激增。传统的VLBI终端数据传输系统采用VSI接口,数据最高传输速率限制在2 Gbps,且数据记录设备必须采用定制的Mark5B设备,极其不灵活,因此已经不能适应现在VLBI系统的观测需求。为了提高数据传输速率,增加数据记录设备的灵活性,上海天文台新研制的基于多相滤波器组和快速傅里叶变换方式的数字基带转换器的数据传输系统采用了高速灵活的10 G网络接口。10 G网络系统中数据传输采用报文交换方式,因此数据到达接收端的时间不是精确可靠的,这要求数据在进入10 G网络接口之前必须已经具有标准的VLBI数据格式,所以在10 G网络前端设计了Mark5B格式器。详细介绍了基于现场可编程门阵列的Mark5B格式器及10 G网络传输系统的设计原理,并在文章的最后通过三组实验验证了其功能的正确性和性能的稳定性。     

实时VLBI技术

随着通信技术的发展出现了用数据通讯网络代替磁带记录与传输，将数据直接传至数据中心处理的实时VLBI技术，它包括准实时和真实时VLBI两个技术层次，是VLBI技术的一次飞跃。实时VLBI除具备传统VLBI的高精度、高灵敏度和全天候、全天时被动观测能力以外，还具有设备简化、自动化程度高、实时性、易于利用现代通信技术获得宽带能力与高灵敏度等突出特点。它在VLBI台站检测、航天器精密跟踪、UT1加强观测和传统的测地和天文学观测领域的有重要的科学意义和实用价值。     

VLBI数字基带转换器通道时延一致性的调整

VLBI数字基带转换器(Digital Baseband Convertor,简称DBBC)又称为CDAS(Chinese VLBI Data Acquisition System),是上海天文台自主研发的新一代数字化终端设备。该设备可以将宽带信号分成若干个基带信号。由于其结构上采用了多芯片和多板卡结构,使得通道之间的时延存在差异。从设备结构入手,分析了各通道之间时延差异产生的主要原因,提出以复位信号为参考,基于m序列的数据同步方法以解决该问题。通过实验,证明该方法能有效地改善同一中频上各通道间时延的差异。     

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.     

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.     

Intensity oscillations at the feet of coronal holes

We investigate the regime of chromospheric oscillations at the bases of coronal holes and compare them with the oscillations in the quiet chromosphere outside coronal holes using time series of spectrograms taken at different times in eight quiet regions on the Sun. As the oscillation parameter being studied, we have chosen the central intensity of the chromospheric Ca II K and H and 849.8-nm lines. The intensity measurements at all spatial points (along the spectrograph slit) have been subjected to a standard Fourier analysis. For the identified areas of the networks, cells, and network boundaries, we have calculated the integrated oscillation powers in several frequency bands. For all frequency bands, the powers of the intensity oscillations at the formation level of the Ca II resonance doublet line cores have been found to be enhanced at the bases of coronal holes approximately by a factor of 1.5. For the “three-minute” band, this enhancement is more pronounced in the network than in the cell, while the opposite is true for the “five-minute” band. The power in the five-minute band is higher than that in the three-minute one both at the bases of coronal holes and outside them, but this ratio in the network for a coronal hole is higher (1.40 ± 0.25 and 1.30 ± 0.10). We interpret this fact and the fact that the power of the three-minute oscillations for nonmagnetic regions changes with height differently at the base of a coronal hole and outside it as an increase in the importance of magnetoacoustic portals at the chromospheric base of the coronal hole.     

多通道双折射滤光器——Ⅲ.多通道头及多通道望远镜

本文讨论多通道滤光器的第三种型式——带多通道头的滤光器。在多通道头中设置较初级的滤光级次,分出各所需要的通道,使指定的工作谱线分别通过各通道,然后分别在各通道之后配置高级次的滤光级,构成整个多通道滤光器。这一结构:1)不需要将最热敏的最厚级置于滤光器最前部,避免了温敏引起的波带位置不稳定;2)各通道可根据工作需要各自选择带宽;3)有利于在其后配置众多的Fabry-Perot和Daystar等各种单通道滤光器;4)可将天文台中现存的所有滤光器,经过多通道头组合在一起,在一个镜筒中实现同时的多通道观测。 本文还讨论了与多通道滤光器相配合的多通道太阳望远镜的一些结构特点和设计方法。     

Exponential Gaussian approach for spectral modelling: The EGO algorithm II. Band asymmetry

The present investigation is complementary to a previous paper which introduced the EGO approach to spectral modelling of reflectance measurements acquired in the visible and near-IR range (Pompilio, L., Pedrazzi, G., Sgavetti, M., Cloutis, E.A., Craig, M.A., Roush, T.L. [2009]. Icarus, 201 (2), 781-794). Here, we show the performances of the EGO model in attempting to account for temperature-induced variations in spectra, specifically band asymmetry.Our main goals are: (1) to recognize and model thermal-induced band asymmetry in reflectance spectra; (2) to develop a basic approach for decomposition of remotely acquired spectra from planetary surfaces, where effects due to temperature variations are most prevalent; (3) to reduce the uncertainty related to quantitative estimation of band position and depth when band asymmetry is occurring.In order to accomplish these objectives, we tested the EGO algorithm on a number of measurements acquired on powdered pyroxenes at sample temperature ranging from 80 up to 400 K. The main results arising from this study are: (1) EGO model is able to numerically account for the occurrence of band asymmetry on reflectance spectra; (2) the returned set of EGO parameters can suggest the influence of some additional effect other than the electronic transition responsible for the absorption feature; (3) the returned set of EGO parameters can help in estimating the surface temperature of a planetary body; (4) the occurrence of absorptions which are less affected by temperature variations can be mapped for minerals and thus used for compositional estimates.Further work is still required in order to analyze the behaviour of the EGO algorithm with respect to temperature-induced band asymmetry using powdered pyroxene spanning a range of compositions and grain sizes and more complex band shapes.     

Investigation of the polarization observed in infrared absorption bands in the spectra of protostars

We investigate the linear polarization in the two deepest infrared absorption bands observed in the spectra of protostars, the water-ice band with the center near 3.1 μm and the silicate band with the center near 9.7 μm, using a core-mantle confocal spheroid model with various axial ratios a/b and relative volumes of the core material. We consider the effect of the grain shape, structure, and type (oblate, prolate) as well as the type of grain orientation and its location relative to the incident ray of light and the magnetic field direction on the central wavelengths of the two bands and the polarizability in the bands. We have found that the observed relationships between the polarizability in the bands and the ratio of their optical depths at the band centers can be explained if we choose slightly oblate or prolate particles (a/b ≲2 for the silicate band and 1.3 ≲ a/b ≲ 2 for the ice band). For any type of orientation, the core-mantle confocal spheroid model requires different axial ratios for the ice and silicate bands to account for the observed polarization. We show that picket-fence-oriented particles can explain the observed polarization in the ice band at angles α between the particle rotation axis and the incident ray ≳30° and in the silicate band at any α. Perfectly Davis-Greenstein-oriented particles can explain the observed polarization in the ice band at angles Ω between the line of sight and the magnetic field direction ≳60° and in the silicate band at any Ω. The orientation parameter ζ (imperfect Davis-Greenstein orientation) must be no more than 0.5 (oblate particles) and 0.1 (prolate particles) for the ice band and can be arbitrary for the silicate band. Original Russian Text ? T.V. Zinov’eva, 2006, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2006, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 748–766.     

The origin of Vesta’s crust: Insights from spectroscopy of the Vestoids

High quality VNIR spectra of 15 Vestoids, small asteroids that are believed to originate from Vesta, were collected and compared to laboratory spectra and compositional data for selected HED meteorites. A combination of spectral parameters such as band centers, and factors derived from Modified Gaussian Model fits (band centers, band strengths, calculation of the low to high-Ca pyroxene ratio) were used to establish if each Vestoid appeared most like eucrite or diogenite material, or a mixture of the two (howardite). This resulted in the identification of the first asteroid with a ferroan diogenite composition, 2511 Patterson. This asteroid can be used to constrain the size of diogenite magma chambers within the crust of Vesta. The Vestoids indicate that both large-scale homogeneous units (>5 km) and smaller-scale heterogeneity (<1 km) exist on the surface of Vesta, as both monomineralogic (eucrite or diogenite material alone) and mixed (both eucrite and diogenite) spectra are observed. The small-scale of the variation observed within the Vestoid population is predicted by the partial melting model, which has multiple intrusions penetrating into the crust of Vesta. It is much more difficult to reconcile the observations here with the magma ocean model, which would predict much more homogeneous layers on a large-scale both at the surface and with depth.     

A World-Wide Net of Solar Radio Spectrometers: e-CALLISTO

Radio spectrometers of the CALLISTO type to observe solar flares have been distributed to nine locations around the globe. The instruments observe automatically, their data is collected every day via internet and stored in a central data base. A public web-interface exists through which data can be browsed and retrieved. The nine instruments form a network called e-CALLISTO. It is still growing in the number of stations, as redundancy is desirable for full 24 h coverage of the solar radio emission in the meter and low decimeter band. The e-CALLISTO system has already proven to be a valuable new tool for monitoring solar activity and for space weather research.     

Importance of space weathering simulation products in compositional modeling of asteroids: 349 Dembowska and 446 Aeternitas as examples

Abstract— Based on recent progress in simulating space weathering on asteroids using pulse‐laser irradiation onto olivine and orthopyroxene samples, detailed analyses of two of the A and R type asteroid reflectance spectra have been performed using reflectance spectra of laser‐treated samples. The visible‐near‐infrared spectrum of olivine is more altered than that of pyroxene at the same pulse‐laser energy, suggesting that olivine weathers more rapidly than orthopyroxene in space. The same trend can be detected from reflectance spectra of the asteroids, where the more olivine an asteroid has, the redder its 1 μm band continuum can become. Comparison of the 1 μm band continuum slope and the 2/1 μm band area ratio between the asteroids and olivine and pyroxene samples (including the laser‐treated ones) suggests that asteroids may be limited in the degree of space weathering they can exhibit, possibly due to the short life of their surface regolith. Their pyroxenes may also have a limited chemical composition range. Fitting the visible continuum shape and other parts of the spectra (especially the 2μm part) has been impossible with any combination of common rock‐forming minerals such as silicates and metallic irons. However, this study shows, for the first time, excellent fits of reflectance spectra of an A asteroid (Aeternitas) and an R asteroid (Dembowska), including their visible spectral curves, band depths and shapes, and overall continuum shapes. Our results provide estimates that Aeternitas consists of 2% fresh olivine, 93% space‐weathered olivine, 1% space‐weathered orthopyroxene, and 4% chromite, and that Dembowska consists of 1% fresh olivine, 55% space‐weathered olivine, and 44% space‐weathered orthopyroxene. These results suggest that space weathering effects maybe important to the interpretation of asteroid reflectance spectra, even those with deep silicate absorption bands. Modified Gaussian model deconvolutions of the laser‐irradiated olivine samples show that their identity as olivine remained. The most recent submicroscopic mineralogical analyses have revealed that the laser‐irradiated olivine samples contain nanophase iron particles similar to those in space‐weathered lunar samples.     

ISO-SWS Observations of Weak Bands of Trace Components of Ices Towards the Young Stellar Object W 33A

ISO-SWS observations of the highly obscured young stellar object W 33A reveal two broad absorption features centered at 7.24 and 7.40 μm. The position and width of these features indicates that they are due to the XH bending mode (X = C, N, or O) of molecules in the solid state. Comparison to interstellar ice analogs shows that the 7.24 μm band can be well matched by solid formic acid (HCOOH), while the 7.40 μm band can be fitted both by the formate ion (HCOO-) and acetaldehyde (CH3HCO). The laboratory spectra reveal additional strong features of these molecules which should make a more definite identification straightforward. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.