Digital Image Processing of Schmidt Objective Prism Spectra

The analysis of stellar spectra taken with the 4 degree prism attached to the 1 m Schmidt telescope of the National Observatory of Venezuela, requires special techniques to reduce the noise in the very small image (5 × 80 pixels), and to enhance the faint absorption lines. In this work we describe the processing techniques that we have used to insure that the information contained is not lost in the noise. Our protocol has achieved a reduction of the noise to 7% of its original value using these special techniques, the last of which is Fourier Analysis.     

Southern stars that can be used as unpolarized standards

Results are presented from a programme of linear polarimetry to find unpolarized stars in the solar vicinity that could be used as standard stars and are within reach of telescopes in the southern hemisphere. We find up to 10 suitable candidates. On the other hand, among the observed stars, HD 112164, HD 114613, HD 130307 and HD 160691 are objects within 27 pc of the Sun but showed a relatively high polarization in the ≈0.1 per cent level, which must be of intrinsic origin.     

光纤星象切分器

本文介绍了为云台CCD—Coude光谱仪系统研制的星象切分器。计算表明,运用切分器可提高光力2个星等以上。文中讲述了原理并给出有关参数的选择。本星象切分器入射端面为直径1mm的圆面,出射端面为0.15的一线阵,共由38根光纤组成。     

天文视频图像采集系统的研究

介绍了采用数字图像处理技术实现软件积分研制成的天文视频图像采集、处理系统。利用该系统 ,我们对 1 997年 3月 9日黑龙江漠河日全食的观测资料进行了处理 ,结果证明 ,该系统完全达到预期研制的目标。     

LOFAR as an ionospheric probe

At the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR)(Planet. Space Sci. (2004) these proceedings) frequencies (HF/VHF), extraterrestrial radiation experiences substantial propagation delay as it passes through the ionosphere. The adaptive calibration technique to be employed by LOFAR will use signals from many known bright radio sources in the sky to estimate and remove the effects of this delay. This technique will operate along many simultaneous lines of sight for each of the stations. Measurements will be made on time scales of seconds or shorter, and with accuracies corresponding to path length variations of 1 cm or less. Tomographic techniques can be used to invert the thousands of changing and independent total electron content (TEC) measurements produced by LOFAR into three-dimensional electron density specifications above the array. These specifications will measure spatial and time scales significantly smaller and faster than anything currently available. These specifications will be used to investigate small-scale ionospheric irregularities, equatorial plasma structures, and ionospheric waves. In addition, LOFAR will improve the understanding of the solar drivers of the ionosphere by simultaneously measuring the solar radio bursts and the TEC. Finally, LOFAR, which will be situated to observed the galactic plane, will make continuous, high-resolution observations of the low-latitude ionosphere, an important but under-observed region. This paper will look at LOFAR as an ionospheric probe including comparisons to other ionospheric probes as well as possible methods of operation to optimize ionospheric measurements.     

A Study on the Paul-Baker System as an Instrument for Multi-object Spectrum Observation

Paul-Baker systems with 4°flat field and 5°flat field are studied. Their light obstructions under different f/ratios of the primary mirror are analyzed. Due to the strong f/ratio of the system, a focal length extender is designed in order to match the following fiber instrumentation, and two kinds of dispersion prism correctors are designed for correcting the atmospheric dispersion. We compare the designed Paul-Baker system with LAMOST, the national major scientific project now under construction.     

一种强有力图象数据缓冲区的开发与使用

以往由于内存小,CCD的读出过程需小块读出,随时存盘;而且由于小块读出中间停顿,数据质量差;尽管现在超过1兆的微机已相当普遍,然而普通操作系统的内存管理仍局限于640k。目前CCD器件的尺寸越来越大,使这一矛盾变得越来越尖锐。针对这些问题,本文介绍一种用扩充内存作图象数据缓冲区的图象采集处理系统方案,并给出具体实现步骤。     

1D Solar Image Synthesis: A Multifrequency Analysis

The radio emission from the solar corona is related to the configuration of the inner atmosphere. By studying the Sun at multiple frequencies, different layers of plasma in solar atmosphere are probed. We use the Mauritius Radio Telescope. The quiet Sun period, difference maps using synthesized 1D maps reveal a certain regular feature, the origin of which is not thoroughly understood and which is attributed to the solar differential rotation. For the active Sun period, the coronal emission is linked to the magnetic field configuration originating from the inner atmosphere. As expected, a strong correlation exists between the MRT 151 MHz and Nancay 164 MHz radio emission. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于Camera Link总线的CCD高速图像采集技术

现代天文学研究越来越依赖于高质量的天文观测结果。针对天文实测的需要,对基于Camera Link总线的CCD高速图像采集技术进行了系统调研,分析对比了Camera Link总线技术及其优缺点,对基于Camera link接口的高速CCD采集技术进行了深入的研究,着重讨论了单缓存与双缓存高速采集技术和实现机制。经实际测试,所实现的技术稳定、可靠,CPU负载低,采集速度达到了厂家给出的CCD相机的最高采集速度,可以满足天文大数据量采集与准实时观测的需要。     

Time scaling as an infinitesimal canonical transformation

We show that time scaling transformations for Hamiltonian systems are infinitesimal canonical transformations in a suitable extended phase space constructed from geometrical considerations. We compute its infinitesimal generating function in some examples: regularization and blow up in celestial mechanics, classical mechanical systems with homogeneous potentials and Scheifele theory of satellite motion.Research partially supported by CONACYT (México), Grant PCCBBNA 022553 and CICYT (Spain).     

Unbiased image reconstruction as an inverse problem

An unbiased method for improving the resolution of astronomical images is presented. The strategy at the core of this method is to establish a linear transformation between the recorded image and an improved image at some desirable resolution. In order to establish this transformation only the actual point spread function and a desired point spread function need be known. No image actually recorded is used in establishing the linear transformation between the recorded and improved image.
This method has a number of advantages over other methods currently in use. It is not iterative, which means it is not necessary to impose any criteria, objective or otherwise, to stop the iterations. The method does not require an artificial separation of the image into 'smooth' and 'point-like' components, and thus is unbiased with respect to the character of structures present in the image. The method produces a linear transformation between the recorded image and the deconvolved image, and therefore the propagation of pixel-by-pixel flux error estimates into the deconvolved image is trivial. It is explicitly constrained to preserve photometry and should be robust against random errors.     

一种快速的天文图像模拟方法及分析

图像模拟在天文学研究中已经发挥越来越重要的作用,其重要性主要表现在以下几方面:通过模拟可以为准备研制的天文观测设备评估提供重要的依据;通过对模拟数据的处理可以验证数据处理的算法。对图像模拟的整个过程进行描述,并在计算上对图像模拟的局部方法进行优化,使模拟结果能够高效准确的生成。主要工作包含以下几方面:对天体形态的模拟,包括点源(如恒星)和展源(星系),这里主要对展源建模;模拟观测条件,主要是仪器和天光背景等产生的噪声;模拟点扩散函数;从计算和程序的方法对计算流程进行优化;对结果进行分析。采用的数据是哈勃超深空场(HUDF) ACS WFC i(F775)波段的数据,其极限星等达到29等。通过对模拟结果的分析,可以看出该方法能够快速并且较为准确地对星系图像进行模拟。     

A Direct Image of the Inner Torus of NGC 1068

We present the first VLBI observations of the compact source S1 in the radio jet of NGC 1068. Roughly 1 pc in length and 0.2 pc wide, S1 resolves into clumps aligned perpendicular to the local radio jet axis. The radio continuum emission arises from a hot (Te ~ 106 K), dense (ne ~ 106 cm-3) plasma, and the source of the radio emission is either thermal free-free emission or Thomson-reflected synchrotron emission. The clouds comprising S1 are opaque to soft X-radiation, and we therefore propose that S1 is the inner, ionized region, or ‘hot zone,’ of the obscuring medium surrounding the active nucleus. The covering fraction of the hot zone is small, Cf ⋦ 10%. Since the covering fraction of the dusty, obscuring medium is probably much larger, the obscuring disk must either flare or warp outside of the hot zone. That the radio jet and hot zone axes are perpendicular also suggests that the hot zone may be considered to trace the outermost extent of the accretion disk. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

一种用于天文望远镜支撑机构的并联机器人控制方案

针对一种用于天文望远镜支撑机构的6自由度的并联机器人,提出了基于预测机制的控制方案,描述了该机器人的结构和运动学,设计并实现了控制方案的具体功能,对控制过程的仿真结果进行分析,验证了控制方案的有效性.     

A Comparison of Several Image Locating Algorithms in Astronomical Instruments

In astronomical observations at optical wavelengths, a fast image tracking system can be adopted to reduce the effects of the atmospheric seeing and telescopic tracking error, and therefore improve the observing efficiency. Aiming at the need of astronomical observations, totally 5 kinds of algorithms in two categories were selected to make a comparative study on their accuracies and stabilities under different noise conditions by both numerical experiment and laboratory test. The results indicate that the normalized cross-correlation method and barycenter method have not only a higher accuracy but also a better reliability against interferences, they will be applied to the high-resolution spectrograph of the Xinglong 2.16 m telescope and the scienti?c instruments of the SONG (Stellar Observations Network Group) project, respectively.     

Multichannel Blind Deconvolution As A Tool For Solar Image Restoration

A principle of restoration methods based on multichannel blind deconvolution (MBD) is introduced. The methods assume that for every un-degraded unobservable image several degraded observed images are available. It is better conditioned than classical single channel approach. The first algorithm represents a generalization of iterative deconvolution scheme introduced for single images. The second MBD algorithm is based on so-called subspace technique. The subspace method is not iterative and this possibly implies an implementation that can be computationally more efficient. Both methods are presented in applications to artificial image data (computer-generated multichannel degraded data) with known ideal image to get a comparison with restored one. Performance in a real situation on solar photosphere images is shown.     

天文仪器中图像跟踪定位算法的比较研究

天文光学观测中采用快速图像跟踪定位可以降低大气视宁度和望远镜跟踪误差的影响,提高观测效率.针对天文仪器观测的需要选择了两类共5种算法,通过数值实验和实验室实测对这两类算法在不同噪声背景下的精度和稳定性进行了比较研究,数值实验和实验室测试的结果表明归一化互相关法和重心法既有较高的精度,又有较好的抗干扰可靠性,将分别被应用于2.16 m望远镜的高色散光谱仪前置系统和SONG(Stellar Observations Network Group)项目的科学仪器.     

A Regularized Image Restoration Algorithm for Lossy Compression in Astronomy

Astronomical images currently provide large amounts of data. Lossy compression algorithms have recently been developed for high compression ratios. These compression technique introduce distortion in the compressed images and for high compression ratios, a blocking effect appears. We propose a modified compression algorithm based on the hcompress scheme, and we introduce a new decompression method based on the regularization theory The image is restored scale by scale in a multiresolution scheme and the information lost during the compression is recovered by applying a Tikhonov regularization constraint. The experimental results show that the blocking effect is reduced and some measurements made on a simulated image show that the astrometric and the photometric properties of the restored images are improved.     

A PRESTO-based parallel pulsar search pipeline used for FAST drift scan data

We developed a pulsar search pipeline based on PulsaR Exploration and Search TOolkit(PRESTO).This pipeline simply runs dedispersion,Fast Fourier Transform(FFT) and acceleration search in process-level parallel to shorten the processing time.With two parallel strategies,the pipeline can highly shorten the processing time in both normal searches and acceleration searches.This pipeline was first tested with Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survery(PMPS) data and discovered two new faint pulsars.Then,it was successfully applied in processing the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST) drift scan data with tens of new pulsar discoveries up to now.The pipeline is only CPU-based and can be easily and quickly deployed in computing nodes for testing purposes or data processing.     

太阳黑子面积数与黑子数指标在大气预报中的应用对比分析

分别应用太阳黑子视面积数和太阳黑子相对数代表太阳活动水平与天津夏季降水总量进行相关分析,结果表明黑子面积指标明显优于黑子数.