Spatial modulation search applied to the search and confirmation of highly scintillated pulsars at FAST with a pulsar discovered in M3

We present a pulsar candidate identification and confirmation procedure based on a position-switch mode during the pulsar search observations. This method enables the simultaneous search and confirmation of a pulsar in a single observation, by utilizing the different spatial features of a pulsar signal and radio frequency interference(RFI). Based on this method, we performed test pulsar search observations in globular clusters M3, M15 and M92. We discovered and confirmed a new pulsar, M3 F, and detected the known pulsars M3 B, M15 A to G(except C) and M92 A.     

快速射电暴观测数据干扰缓解方法研究

从海量的天文观测数据中快速搜寻罕见的快速射电暴(Fast Radio Burst, FRB)事件, 干扰缓解是其中一项关键而具有挑战的工作. 射频干扰(Radio Frequency Interference, RFI)会淹没真实的天文事件, 还会导致搜寻管线输出大量的假阳性候选体. 由于干扰来源及其种类的复杂性, 目前并没有一种通用的方法可以解决这个问题. 为了降低干扰对FRB观测搜寻的影响, 分析和研究了南山26m射电望远镜L波段观测数据中的干扰情况, 针对主要的窄带干扰和宽带干扰建立了3层次的干扰缓解处理流程, 从而有效缓解了观测数据的干扰污染情况. 将该流程嵌入到FRB色散动态谱搜寻(Dispersed Dynamic Spectra Search, DDSS)管线中, 实验结果表明, 搜寻管线的检测率和检测精度得到了进一步的提高. 该方法为FRB观测数据干扰缓解处理提供了有价值的参考.     

Selection of radio astronomical observation sites and its dependence on human generated RFI

We investigate the influence of population density on radio-frequency interference(RFI) affecting radio astronomy.We use a new method to quantify the threshold of population density in order to determine the most suitable lower limit for site selection of a radio quiet zone(RQZ).We found that there is a certain trend in the population density-RFI graph that increases rapidly at lower values and slows down to almost flat at higher values.We use this trend to identify the thresholds for population density that produce RFI.Using this method we found that,for frequencies up to 2.8 GHz,low,medium and high population densities affecting radio astronomy are below 150 ppl km-2,between 150 ppl km-2and 5125 ppl km-2,and above5125 ppl km-2respectively.We also investigate the effect of population density on the environment of RFI in three astronomical windows,namely the deuterium,hydrogen and hydroxyl lines.We find that a polynomial fitting to the population density produces a similar trend,giving similar thresholds for the effect of population density.We then compare our interference values to the standard threshold levels used by the International Telecommunication Union within these astronomical windows.     

Research on Receiver Anti-RFI of Delingha 13.7 m Telescope

In astronomical observations, the radio frequency interference (RFI) will cause pseudo spectra and reduce the reliability and validity of observational data. The RFI mitigation, which includes many technical innovations of devices and the method studies of data processing, aims at reducing the influence of RFI on the radio astronomical observation. Various efforts were made to improve the anti-RFI capability of the multi-beam receiver (Superconducting Spectroscopic Array Receiver, SSAR) of the Delingha 13.7 m telescope. The interference transmission path was analyzed. The concepts of the device RFI direct coupling coefficient and the device RFI system coupling coefficient were proposed. The proportions of interference introduced in the receiver system by the different devices were quantified, and the interference-susceptible devices in the system were located. After the anti-RFI treatment of the interference-susceptible devices, the anti-RFI capability of the receiver system is improved by 30 dB in average, and the astronomical observation efficiency of the telescope is increased by more than 10%.     

Fast radio burst search: cross spectrum vs. auto spectrum method

The search for fast radio bursts(FRBs) is a hot topic in current radio astronomy studies. In this work, we carry out a single pulse search with a very long baseline interferometry(VLBI) pulsar observation data set using both auto spectrum and cross spectrum search methods. The cross spectrum method,first proposed in Liu et al., maximizes the signal power by fully utilizing the fringe phase information of the baseline cross spectrum. The auto spectrum search method is based on the popular pulsar software package PRESTO, which extracts single pulses from the auto spectrum of each station. According to our comparison, the cross spectrum method is able to enhance the signal power and therefore extract single pulses from data contaminated by high levels of radio frequency interference(RFI), which makes it possible to carry out a search for FRBs in regular VLBI observations when RFI is present.     

德令哈13.7m望远镜接收机抗射频干扰研究

在天文观测中,射频干扰会造成假谱,降低数据的可靠性和有效性.射频干扰消减旨在减少干扰信号对射电天文观测的影响,包含器件方面的技术革新和数据处理领域的方法研究.针对德令哈13.7 m望远镜接收机中频部分引入的射频干扰,通过优化中频器件的抗射频干扰能力,提高了接收机的整体抗射频干扰能力,以主动消除方法来减少射频干扰耦合到接收机内部.分析了接收机干扰的传输路径,提出了器件射频干扰的直接耦合系数和器件射频干扰的系统耦合系数的概念,为定位干扰敏感器件并量化干扰引入比重提供了基础.经过抗射频干扰优化后,接收机抗干扰能力改善30 dB左右,望远镜的天文观测效率提高10%以上.     

L-band RFI Measurement and Mitigation at the NSRT Site

近些年,南山台址内部各类电子设备不断引入,此过程忽视了有效的设备管理及电磁防护,且台址周边无线电业务增多,以致电波环境恶化。为改善台址电波环境,采用一种准实时电波环境测量方法测量分析了台址周边瞬态信号的影响;另外,为提高微弱信号检测能力,采用便携式电磁干扰测量系统和26m射电望远镜对台址主要干扰信号特征及来源进行测量分析。依据测量和分析结果,采用屏蔽及滤波技术对望远镜观测室内部主要干扰源进行电磁防护,并针对屏蔽工程的有效性进行测量评估,结果表明,采用的电磁屏蔽措施有效。另外,提出了初步南山无线电宁静区保护办法缓解台址外部电磁干扰。     

毫秒脉冲星定时研究进展

毫秒脉冲星守时的理论和方法研究己取得重要进展,利用现有2颗毫秒脉冲星约10yr的计时观测资料分析得到的 TAI-PT,其长期稳定度为 2×10－14。采用合适的长期稳定度算法,由多颗毫秒脉冲星计时观测可以建立综合脉冲星时间尺度。它可以成为与原子时系统比较的重要手段,并对原子时长期稳定度的改进做出贡献。介绍了该领域研究的基本状况,重点对毫秒脉冲星守时的理论方法,综合脉冲星时间及与原子时的关系等进行了讨论和评述。对由双星系统内毫秒脉冲星的轨道运动定义的双星脉冲星时也做了介绍。     

RFI detection by automated feature extraction and statistical analysis

In this paper we present an interference detection toolbox consisting of a high dynamic range Digital Fast‐Fourier‐Transform spectrometer (DFFT, based on FPGA‐technology) and data analysis software for automated radio frequency interference (RFI) detection. The DFFT spectrometer allows high speed data storage of spectra on time scales of less than a second. The high dynamic range of the device assures constant calibration even during extremely powerful RFI events. The software uses an algorithm which performs a two‐dimensional baseline fit in the time‐frequency domain, searching automatically for RFI signals superposed on the spectral data. We demonstrate, that the software operates successfully on computer‐generated RFI data as well as on real DFFT data recorded at the Effelsberg 100‐m telescope. At 21‐cm wavelength RFI signals can be identified down to the 4σ _rms level. A statistical analysis of all RFI events detected in our observational data revealed that: (1) mean signal strength is comparable to the astronomical line emission of the Milky Way, (2) interferences are polarised, (3) electronic devices in the neighbourhood of the telescope contribute significantly to the RFI radiation. We also show that the radiometer equation is no longer fulfilled in presence of RFI signals. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

射电望远镜远场区域强干扰源规避方法研究

随着频率使用率的提高, 射电天文台址地面或空间存在强电磁干扰致使望远镜接收机系统处于非线性状态. 为减少强电磁干扰的影响、提高天文观测效率, 提出了一种基于望远镜远场区域的强干扰源规避方法. 首先, 通过仿真分析确定的射电望远镜远场方向图, 结合望远镜与干扰源之间的位置关系, 分析了强电磁干扰到达射电望远镜焦点处的功率响应, 并依据接收机第2阶中频放大器性能参数, 确定射电望远镜处于非饱和状态的规避角度计算方法. 其次, 采用该方法计算分析了民航飞机对射电望远镜的影响, 若民航飞机上有主动发射的干扰源, 且不经过反射等传播现象, 当射电望远镜主波束轴偏开一定方向后, 可有效降低对射电望远镜的干扰强度.     

Radio frequency self-interference from a data processing centre at a radio telescope site

Apart from externally generated Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), the occurrence of self-interference is a major concern at any modern radio telescope site. Antenna servo motor controllers, data acquisition processors, and fast computing capabilities operate very close to extremely sensitive and wideband radio astronomical receivers. In this paper, we present a set of measurements of the RFI level generated by a cluster of computers that will be installed at the site of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The measured levels are compared to Recommendation ITU-R RA.769-2, which gives the threshold levels for interference detrimental to radio astronomy observations. Our analysis shows that, with proper shielding of the noisiest devices, it will be possible to preserve the present excellent RFI conditions of the SRT site.     

Non-Stationary Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities in Pulsar Wind Interaction with a Supernova Shell

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) plays an important role in the dynamics of several astronomical objects, in particular, in the supernovae (SN) evolution. In the present paper we examine the dynamics of a shell (representing a type II SN remnant) blown-up by a wind emitted by a central pulsar. The shell is accelerated by the pulsar wind and its inner surface experiences the RTI. We develop an analytical approach by using a specific transformation into the coordinate frame co-moving with the SN ejecta. We first derive a non-stationary spherically symmetric solution describing an expansion of a gas shell under the pressure of a central source (pulsar). Then, we analyze its 3D stability with respect to a small perturbation on the inner shell surface. The dispersion relation is derived in the co-moving reference frame. The growth rate of the perturbation is found and its temporal evolution is discussed. We compare our result with the previous published studies and apply it to the Crab nebula evolution.     

大规模脉冲星候选体信号的无监督聚类分析研究

随着500 m口径球面射电望远镜(Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, FAST)等大型射电望远镜的建设和使用,脉冲星巡天数据进入PB时代.为解决如此大量高速采样的标量数据挖掘问题,促进新天文现象的发现,提出一种基于无监督聚类的脉冲星候选体筛选方案.该方案采用基于密度层次、划分方法的混合聚类算法,结合MapReduce/Spark并行计算模型和基于滑动窗口的分组策略,进而提高大量候选体信号筛选的效率.通过在脉冲星数据集HTRU2 (High Time Resolution Universe)上的对比实验,结果表明该算法能取得较高的精确度和召回率,分别是0.946和0.905,并且当并行节点足够时,该算法的时间复杂度相比串行执行明显下降.可见,该方法为脉冲星观测大数据的分析挖掘提供一种可行思路.     

基于自适应滤波的干扰消除方法研究

射电天文信号非常微弱,电磁环境对射电望远镜观测至关重要,通常可以利用地形、建立无线电宁静区、进行电磁屏蔽与防护等手段来减小电磁干扰.然而,仍有一些干扰难以屏蔽.故提出了一种基于自适应滤波的干扰消除方法,可用于复杂噪声环境中天文信号的提取.该方法借助自适应横向滤波器,采用最小均方(Least Mean Square, LMS)误差算法,以系统误差和收敛性为评判标准,通过改变步长与阶数对滤波效果进行优化,仿真结果显示该滤波器能在保证算法收敛的前提下有效提取信号.为了检验该算法的有效性,选取了新疆天文台南山26 m射电望远镜和Parkes 64 m射电望远镜记录的观测数据,采用设计的滤波器分别对不同的实测数据进行测试,验证了该滤波器的有效性.理论分析与实验结果一致表明该方法能有效消除天文观测中的干扰信号,具有一定的实用性.     

基于深层残差网络的脉冲星候选体分类方法研究

随着下一代射电天文望远镜的不断改进和发展,脉冲星巡天观测将发现数百万个脉冲星候选体,这给脉冲星的识别和新脉冲星的发现带来了巨大挑战,迅速发展的人工智能技术可用于脉冲星识别.使用Parkes望远镜的脉冲星数据集(The High Time Resolution Universe Survey,HTRUS),设计了一个14层深的残差网络(Residual Network,ResNet)进行脉冲星候选体分类.在HTRUS数据样本中,存在非脉冲星候选体(负样本)的数目远远大于脉冲星候选体(正样本)数目的样本非均衡问题,容易产生模型误判.通过使用过采样技术对训练集中的正样本进行数据增强,并调整正负样本的比例,解决了正负样本非均衡问题.训练过程中,使用5折交叉验证来调节超参数,最终构建出模型.测试结果表明,该模型能够取得较高的精确度(Precision)和召回率(Recall),分别为98%和100%,F1分数(F1-score)能够达到99%,每个样本检测完成只需要7 ms,为未来脉冲星大数据分析提供了一个可行的办法.     

Research on Pulsar Candidate Identification Method Based on Deep Residual Neural Network

As the next-generation radio astronomical telescopes continuously improve and develop, the pulsar survey will produce millions of pulsar candidates, which pose considerable challenges for pulsar identification and classification. The rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are being used for pulsar identification and discovery of new pulsars. Using the pulsar data set observed with the Parkes telescope, namely the High Time Resolution Universe Survey (HTRUS), a 14-layer deep residual network has been designed (called the Residual Network, ResNet) for pulsar candidate classifications. In the HTRUS sample data, the number of non-pulsar candidates (i.e., negative samples) is much larger than that of pulsar candidates (i.e., positive samples). The imbalance between the positive and negative samples is prone to result in model misjudgement. By using the over-sampling technique to enhance the data of positive samples in the training set and adjusting the ratio of positive and negative samples, we have solved this imbalance problem. In the training process, the hyperparameters are adjusted by means of 5-fold cross validation to build the model. The test results indicate that the model can achieve a high precision (98%) and recall (100%), the F1-score can reach 99%, and that the implementation of each sample test needs only 7 ms, it has provided a feasible approach for the future big-data analysis of pulsars.     

大口径射电望远镜电磁兼容评估技术研究

电磁兼容性是设备或系统的重要性能指标, 也是保障系统的工作效能和提高系统可靠性的重要因素. 大口径射电望远镜运行阶段, 台址周围无线电业务及内部潜在的电磁干扰会降低观测系统灵敏度、影响天文观测的质量. 本论文针对拟建的新疆110 m全向可动射电望远镜(Qi Tai raido Telescope, QTT)开展了系统电磁兼容评估技术及控制方法研究, 具有重要的工程应用价值. 首先, 依据现有电波环境测量方法的不足, 深入分析了仪器设备的关键参数配置方法及测量时间计算方法, 采用Y因子法校准测量数据, 提出一种准实时电波环境测量方法. 面向高重复性宽带频谱, 分析了宽带频谱信号和噪声特征, 结合标准差理论, 提出一种基于邻值比较的信噪分离方法, 并采用邻值统计方法优化关键参数, 提高信噪分离精度. 针对QTT台址, 开发了自动化电波环境监测系统, 该系统6 GHz以下频段系统增益大于40 dB, 系统噪声系数小于2 dB, 测量不确定度小于1.49 dB, 具有极高的系统灵敏度和测量精度; 分析了频谱监测数据流, 设计了基于HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format version 5)的数据存储格式, 开发了自动化电波环境测量和监控软件及数据处理软件. 依据QTT台址长期监测数据, 评估分析了台址电磁环境、主要干扰源特征及其影响. 其次, 提出大口径射电望远镜馈源口面干扰电平限值量化方法, 建立了基于台址地形的电波传播模型, 分析了现有电波传播模型的优缺点及适应性, 结合QTT台址实际地形及地质特征, 采用Longley-Rice和Two-Ray电波传播模型, 预测分析了QTT台址潜在干扰区域电磁干扰达到射电望远镜的电波路径衰减, 结合大口径射电望远镜天线增益量化方法, 提出设备所在位置干扰电平限值量化方法, 运用该方法对QTT台址潜在干扰区域的干扰电平限值进行量化. 依据设备所在位置干扰电平限值, 调研分析了国内外军用、民用电磁兼容测量标准, 结合电磁干扰对射电天文观测的影响, 提出一种大口径射电望远镜电磁兼容控制方法, 解决了现有电波暗室测量系统无法直接测量评估电子设备电磁兼容的问题, 该电磁兼容控制方法计划应用于QTT建设及运行阶段, 确保系统拥有良好的电磁兼容性. 最后, 依据QTT台址潜在干扰区域干扰电平限值, 结合典型电子设备电磁辐射频谱, 分析了QTT电磁兼容设计需求, 提出电磁兼容设计初步方案. 另外, 针对台址建筑设施内的中低电磁辐射干扰源, 提出一种低成本建筑屏蔽方法, 应用于QTT台址现有建筑.     

上海天文台25 m射电望远镜首次单天线脉冲星观测

介绍上海天文台25 m射电望远镜首次单天线脉冲星观测。2010年4月23日,使用上海天文台位于佘山观测基地的25 m射电望远镜对脉冲星J0332+5434在L波段进行了观测,此次观测使用VLBI终端进行数据采集记录,通过对观测数据进行非相干消色散和周期折叠,成功获得目标源的平均轮廓。此次观测的成功,表明该天线具备开展单天线脉冲星观测的条件,并为上海天文台建设中的65 m天线的天文观测提供了参考,为将来自主研发脉冲星终端进行了技术储备。     

四种综合脉冲星时算法比较

由单颗脉冲星定义的脉冲星时受多种噪声源的影响,其短期和长期稳定度都不够好.为了削弱这些噪声源对单脉冲星时的影响,可以采取合适的算法对多个单脉冲星时进行综合得到综合脉冲星时,从而提高综合脉冲星时的长期稳定度.文中介绍4种综合脉冲星时算法:经典加权算法、小波分析算法、维纳滤波算法和小波域中的维纳滤波算法,将这4种算法分别应用于Arecibo天文台对两颗毫秒脉冲星PSR B1855+09和PSRB1937+21观测得到的计时残差并作出比较.     

Determination of the orbital parameters of binary pulsars

We present a simple method for determination of the orbital parameters of binary pulsars, using data on the pulsar period at multiple observing epochs. This method uses the circular nature of the velocity space orbit of Keplerian motion and produces preliminary values based on two one-dimensional searches. Preliminary orbital parameter values are then refined using a computationally efficient linear least-squares fit. This method works for random and sparse sampling of the binary orbit. We demonstrate the technique on (i) the highly eccentric binary pulsar PSR J0514−4002 (the first known pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851) and (ii) 47 Tuc T, a binary pulsar with a nearly circular orbit.