红外相机CASCAM光学设计

介绍紫金山天文台研制的光学-近红外相机CASCAM（Chinese Academy of Science，CAMera)的光学系统设计．CASCAM相机以红外列阵HAWAII-1和光学CCD为探测器，配备国家天文台兴隆观测站2．16米和1．26米望远镜进行0．4—2．5μm波长范围的成像和偏振成像观测．相机的光学系统由F／9→F／6缩焦系统和Offner反射成像系统构成．优化设计结果表明，光学设计方案已满足天文观测的要求．CASCAM相机在设计上实现了光学-近红外很宽波段的消色差变焦，并在楔形分柬片、常温滤光片轮和折射式焦面摆动技术等方面进行了新的尝试．     

吸积盘整体结构的统一描述

在考虑径向对流和不同光学厚度的基础上，我们采用一般的辐射致冷假设；在统一的框架内考察了吸积盘的整体结构．对α模型，我们发现在不同的盘区存在不同的整体结构．在吸积率较低时，存在三种类型解：光学厚的局部辐射致冷解；光学薄的局部致冷解；光学薄的对流致冷解．这些解在盘内较大范围内都存在且互不交叉．但在吸积率较高和粘滞系数较大时，两种局部致冷解会相互交叉，而对流为主的解在所有盘区都稳定存在．另一方面，在吸积率较高和粘滞系数较小时，两种光学薄解会相互交叉，而光学厚和局部致冷为主的解在所有盘区都存在．     

基于TCP/IP的CASCAM 网络控制系统

介绍了基于TCP／IP协议的CASCAM网络控制系统．为了有效地实现Cliet／Server模式的网络通信,我们开发了两个类——client、server,实现了工作站和微机之间的网络连接,并在客户端使用Tcl／Tk脚本语言编写控制界面,通过加载client类的动态库向服务器发送请求,服务器端接收请求并解析请求,从而控制相机系统．     

NVST偏振观测系统的运动控制实现

中国科学院云南天文台1 m新真空太阳望远镜(New Vacuum Solar Telescope,NVST)是我国在太阳物理和空间科学对太阳进行光学和近红外观测的主力设备,主要科学目标是高精度、高时空分辨率的太阳磁场测量。1 m新真空太阳望远镜采用机械扫描偏振观测方式,由于光学系统的结构特性导致望远镜在跟踪太阳的过程中不可避免地引入了随时间变化的偏振效应,因此在进行偏振观测时需要进行系统定标,整个系统由定标单元、分析单元和探测器组成,其间涉及的多个运动部件均有复杂精密的运动要求。针对偏振定标过程和偏振观测过程中各光学器件的运动需求,给出了定标单元和分析单元的控制要求,实现了不同观测模式下各部件的运动要求。基于TCP/IP协议的远程控制方案,集成了采用串口通讯的各商用驱动控制器,开发了一套在.NET架构下的定标单元控制软件和相应的用户界面,并预留了观测控制系统接口。性能测试表明,系统符合观测要求,现已投入使用,为后续的偏振观测奠定了基础。     

红外相机OASIS的偏振器设计

介绍为日本冈山天文台１．８８ｍ镜红外相机（ＯＡＳＩＳ）研制的红外偏振器．该偏振器与ＯＡＳＩＳ配备可实现～４．１′视场的近红外成像偏振观测．偏振器包括可旋转的消色差半波片和固定的致冷偏振片,通过旋转半波片对入射光的调制取得线偏振测量．实际观测给出ＪＨＫ波段的偏振效率分别为８６．３％、９７．０％和９７．５％．并给出了ＯＡＳＩＳ偏振观测与前人观测结果的比较     

天文选址相机的研制

详细介绍了天文选址用CCD相机的开发研制．系统探测器选用具有累进扫描模式的ICX098ALCCD芯片，采用相关双采样信号读出电路、USB通讯接口实现数据与命令的传输．对系统工作性能进行了详细的测试：12℃条件下暗流约为52adu／see，系统增益(system gain)为2.2e／adu，读出噪声(readout noise)为30e．最后给出了在日本冈山天体物理观测所对大气宁静度的实测结果，该结果与冈山已有仪器测量值吻合．     

分光仪PSPO的光学设计

本文介绍棱镜分光光度仪PSPO的光学设计结果．PSPO以TH7832双线CCD作为系统探测器，可同时观测0．365－1.0微米波长范围内的天体及周围背景的低色散光谱．仪器的入射焦比为F／18，平均光谱分辨率约为10nm．本文简单介绍了PSPO的光学调整，并给出了波长校正实验和配备名古屋大学50公分望远镜进行试观测的结果．设计和实验结果表明，光学设计很好地满足了天文课题对仪器的设计要求，PSPO已可以应用于天文观测．     

分光仪PSP0的光学设计

本文介绍棱镜分光光度仪ＰＳＰ０的光学设计结果。ＰＳＰ０以ＴＨ７８３２双线ＣＣＤ作为系统探测器，可同时观测０．３６５－１．０微米波长范围内的天体及周转背景的低色散光谱。仪器的入射焦比为Ｆ／１８，平均光谱分辨率约为１０ｎｍ。本文简单介绍了ＰＳＰ０的光学调整，并给出了波长校正实验和配备名古屋大学５０公分望远镜进行试观测的结果。设计和实验结果表明，光学设计很好地满足了天文课题对仪器的设计要求，ＰＳＰ０已可     

X Per新发射相的不寻常变化

对ＸＰｅｒ新发射相连续四年的光学光谱和近红外光度监测结果，ＸＰｅｒ近两年的变化不同寻常，主要表现以下两点：（１）尽管它的光学光度Ｖ星等只恢复至失去气壳前的亮度，但Ｈａ发射线等值宽度和近红外，Ｊ，Ｈ和Ｋ光度地超过了历史记录的最大值，分别达到了１６．３４Ａ和５．３＾ｍ，５．３＾ｍ和５．１＾ｍ，表明ＸＰｅｒ新发射相气南的密度和尺度较都大，（２）我们首次观测到ＸＰｅｒ近红外光度和Ｈα发射线等值宽度变化趋势     

红外波段太阳观测技术方法研究

1m红外太阳塔是我国未来重点发展的地面太阳观测设备，本文的所有工作均围绕着与此相关的红外波段太阳观测技术方法展开。1．针对望远镜实验平台－云台太阳光谱仪，建立了光谱仪分光流量,工用多种实验手段验证了其可靠性。利用该模型计算了Fe Ⅰ1.56μm红外太阳光 谱的分光流量，分析了实验观测的可行性及改进方案。2．针对探测器实验平台－PtSi红外焦平面阵列相机，建立了FeⅠ1.56μm光谱观测信噪比模型，模拟了各种噪声对观测的影响。在此基础上，在国内首次成功进行了FeⅠ1.56μm红外太阳光谱的面阵观测实验。3．在红外观测实验所处的高背景低对比度条件下，讨论了红外太阳光谱观测的图像处理方法，分析了观测中出现的干涉条纹的来源及解决办法，初步建立起了一整套红外太阳光谱与成像的定标方法和图像处理方法。4．首次利用PVA材料，设计研制了一套FeⅠ1.56μm近红外Stokes参量偏振仪，并将该偏振仪安装在美国国立天文台McMath望远镜上进行了观测实验。针对一太阳黑子，通过扫描进行了二维的Stokes参量观测。同时建立了一套从Stokes参量反演磁矢量场的方法，并将反演的结果与怀柔太阳磁场望远镜的观测结果进行了比对。5．针对1m红外太阳塔的太阳光谱仪系统，给出了垂直多波段光谱仪和红外大色散光谱仪的光、机初步设计。6．针对1m红外太阳塔的科学目标，提出了多波段光谱仪探测器系统方案，对红外大色散光谱仪所使用的红外探测器也进行了初步方案设计。     

Infrared–red cores in nearby elliptical galaxies

We present the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera observations for a sample of local elliptical galaxies to study later stages of active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. A sample of 36 elliptical galaxies is selected from the Palomar spectroscopic survey. We detect nuclear non-stellar infrared emission in nine of them. There is unambiguous evidence of circumnuclear dust in these nine galaxies in their optical images. We also find a remarkable correlation between the infrared excess emission and the nuclear radio/X-ray emission, suggesting that infrared excess emission is tightly related to nuclear activity. The possible origin of infrared excess emission from hot dust heated by the central AGN is supported by the spectral indices of the infrared excess emission.     

Optical flares from the faint mid‐dM star 2MASS J00453912+4140395

We present B and V light curves of a large stellar flare obtained with the Wide Field Camera at the Isaac Newton 2.5‐m telescope (La Palma). The source object is a faint (m_V = 21.38) foreground star in the field of the Andromeda galaxy, with its most probable spectral type being dM4. We provide an estimate of the total flare energy in the optical range and find it to be of the order of 1035 erg. The cooling phase of the large flare shows three additional weak flare‐like events, which we interpret as results of a triggering mechanism also observed on the Sun during large coronal mass ejections. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Distribution and time-variation of spire streaks at Pavonis Mons on Mars

We documented the distribution and the time-variation of the specific dark wind streaks at Pavonis Mons. We focused on the streaks we named “Spire Streaks”, which are overlapping spindle shaped dark streaks at the upper boundary of the coalesced dark streaks on Tharsis volcanoes. We investigated both visible and infrared images obtained by Viking orbiter camera, Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), THEMIS, CTX and HiRISE of the spire streaks at Pavonis Mons. We also used topographic data obtained by Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) to see the relationship between the topography and the distribution of the spire streaks. The spire streaks at Pavonis Mons provide us high-resolution information about the direction of the nighttime slope wind, and could be indirect clues for the time-variation of the nighttime environment. We conclude that the spire streaks are erosional features. However, some features of the spire streaks reported in this paper are outside the scope of previous modeling for erosional process, and we need a new category of model for the formation.     

The NASA-ARC 10/20 micron camera

A new infrared camera (AIR Camera) has been developed at NASA-Ames Research Center for observations from ground-based telescopes. The heart of the camera is a Hughes 58 × 62 pixel Arsenic-doped Silicon detector array that has the spectral sensitivity range to allow observations in both the 10 and 20 micron atmospheric windows.The U.S. Government right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

Simulations of galactic cosmic ray impacts on the Herschel/PACS bolometer arrays with Geant4 code

The effects of the in-flight behaviour of the bolometer arrays of the Herschel/Photo-conductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) instrument under impacts of Galactic cosmic rays are explored. This instrument is part of the ESA-Herschel payload, which will be launched at the end of 2008 and will operate at the Lagrangian L2 point of the Sun-Earth system. We find that the components external to the detectors (the spacecraft, the cryostat, the PACS box, collectively referred to as the ‘shield’) are the major source of secondary events affecting the detector behaviour. The impacts deposit energy on the bolometer chips and influence the behaviour of nearby pixels. 25% of hits affect the adjacent pixels. The energy deposited raises the bolometer temperature by a factor ranging from 1 to 6 percent of the nominal value. We discuss the effects on the observations and compare simulations with laboratory tests.     

Rapid instrument exchanging system for the Cassegrain focus of the Lijiang 2.4-m Telescope

As a facility used for astronomical research, the Lijiang 2.4-m telescope of Yunnan Astronomical Observatories, requires the ability to change one auxiliary instrument with another in as short a time as possible. This arises from the need to quickly respond to scientific programs(e.g. transient observation, time domain studies) and changes in observation conditions(e.g. seeing and weather conditions). In this paper, we describe the design, construction and test of hardware and software in the rapid instrument exchange system(RIES) for the Cassegrain focal station of this telescope, which enables instruments to be quickly changed at night without much loss of observing time. Tests in the laboratory and at the telescope show that the image quality and pointing accuracy of RIES are satisfactory.With RIES, we observed the same Landolt standard stars almost at the same time with the Princeton Instruments VersA rray 1300 B Camera(PICCD) and the Yunnan Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera(YFOSC), while both were mounted at the Cassegrain focus. A quasi-simultaneous comparison shows that the image quality of the optical system inside the YFOSC is comparable with that provided by the PICCD.     

Discs and haloes in pre-main-sequence stars

We study the infrared (IR) emission from flared discs with and without additional optically thin haloes. Flux calculations of a flared disc in vacuum can be considered a special case of the more general family of models in which the disc is imbedded in an optically thin halo. In the absence of such a halo, flux measurements can never rule out its existence because the disc flaring surface defines a mathematically equivalent halo that produces the exact same flux at all IR wavelengths. When a flared disc with height H at its outer radius R is imbedded in a halo whose optical depth at visual wavelengths is  τ_halo  , the system IR flux is dominated by the halo whenever  τ_halo > (1/4) H / R   . Even when its optical depth is much smaller, the halo can still have a significant effect on the disc temperature profile. Imaging is the only way to rule out the existence of a potential halo, and we identify a decisive test that extracts a signature unique to flared discs from imaging observations.     

Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations of hyperluminous infrared galaxies

We present Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 I -band imaging for a sample of nine hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HLIRGs) spanning a redshift range     . Three of the sample have morphologies showing evidence for interactions and six are quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). Host galaxies in the QSOs are detected reliably out to     . The detected QSO host galaxies have an elliptical morphology with scalelengths spanning     and absolute k -corrected magnitudes spanning     There is no clear correlation between the infrared (IR) power source and the optical morphology. None of the sources in the sample, including F15307+3252, shows any evidence for gravitational lensing. We infer that the IR luminosities are thus real. Based on these results, and previous studies of HLIRGs, we conclude that this class of object is broadly consistent with being a simple extrapolation of the ULIRG population to higher luminosities; ULIRGs being mainly violently interacting systems powered by starbursts and/or active galactic nuclei. Only a small number of sources, the infrared luminosities of which exceed 10¹³ L_⊙, are intrinsically less luminous objects that have been boosted by gravitational lensing.     

History of infrared telescopes and astronomy

The first attempts to measure the infrared outputs of stars preceded by nearly a century the permanent establishment of infrared astronomy as an important aspect of the field. There were a number of false starts in that century, significant efforts that had little impact on the astronomical community at large. Why did these efforts fizzle out? What was different in the start that did not fizzle, in the 1960s? I suggest that the most important advances were the success of radio astronomy in demonstrating interesting phenomena outside of the optical regime, and the establishment virtually simultaneously in the United States of a number of research groups that could support each other and compete against one another in their approach to infrared astronomy.     

Imaging magnetographs for high‐resolution solar observations in the visible and near‐infrared wavelength region

The Coudé feed of the vacuum telescope (aperture D = 65 cm) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) is currently completely remodelled to accommodate a correlation tracker and a high‐order Adaptive Optics (AO) system. The AO system serves two imaging magnetograph systems located at a new optical laboratory on the observatory's 2^nd floor. The InfraRed Imaging Magnetograph (IRIM) is an innovative magnetograph system for near‐infrared (NIR) observations in the wavelength region from 1.0 μm to 1.6 μm. The Visible‐light Imaging Magnetograph (VIM) is basically a twin of IRIM for observations in the wavelength range from 550 nm to 700 nm. Both instruments were designed for high spatial and high temporal observations of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. Real‐time data processing is an integral part of the instruments and will enhance BBSO's capabilities in monitoring solar activity and predicting and forecasting space weather.