用于自适应光学系统的激光引导星

自适应光学系统应用于天文观测时应满足一些技术要求,其中的关键技术之一是自适应光学系统为了对畸变的光波进行采样,需要在其很小的等晕角内有足够的信标强度。激光引导星,即人造信标,就是解决这种问题的方法之一。特别是在观测天文暗目标时,其自身的光强度不能为有探测提供信息,激光引导星就蛤得非常重要。根据国际上的最新进展对激光引导星技术给予了介绍。重点介绍了激光引导星的局限性,对近几年提出的对激光引导星可能的     

Laser Guide Star for 3.6- and 8-m telescopes: Performance and astrophysical implications

We have constructed an analytical model to simulate the behaviour of an adaptive optics system coupled with a sodium laser guide star. The code is applied to 3.6- and 8-m class telescopes. The results are given in terms of Strehl ratio and full width at half-maximum of the point spread function. Two atmospheric models are used, one representing good atmospheric conditions (20 per cent of the time), the other median conditions.   Sky coverage is computed for natural guide star and laser guide star systems, with two different methods. The first one is a statistical approach, using stellar densities to compute the probability of finding a nearby reference. The second is a cross-correlation of a science-object catalogue and the USNO catalogue. Results are given in terms of percentage of the sky that can be accessed with given performances, and in terms of the number of science objects that can be observed, with Strehls greater than 0.2 and 0.1 in the K and J bands.     

Numerical study of a 20W class QCW pulsed sodium guide star laser's performances at five sites in China

In the past few years,Chinese astronomical community is actively testing astronomical sites for several new optical/infrared ground-based telescopes.These site testing campaigns conducted were mainly focused on fundamental performances of the sites,such as cloud coverage,seeing,temperature,etc.With increasing interests in sodium laser guide star adaptive optics for these new telescopes in the Chinese astronomical community,it is interesting to investigate the performance of the laser guide star at these sites,especially considering that the sodium laser guide star's on-sky performance is significantly influenced by sites' local performances,such as geomagnetic field,sodium layer dynamics,density of air molecule,etc.In this paper,we studied sodium laser guide star's performance of a 20 W class Quasi Continuous Wave(QCW) pulsed laser developed by TIPC with numerical simulation for five selected sites in China.     

Development of an Absolute Accelerometer for Extra-Solar Planet Detection

The method of stellar radial velocity variations has recently shown its capability by the first discovery of several extra-solar planets. Accuracies achieved today are in the range 3-10 m/s. The AAA (absolute astronomical accelerometer) is an instrument which aims to reach the photon noise limit for the measurement of velocity changes, with systematic errors of about 1 m/s, long term. The principle is to use a servo-controlled CCD spectrograph as a null detector, and to register always the lines of the star on the same CCD pixels. Thus, systematic errors linked to the Earth-induced large variations are cancelled. A tunable Fabry-Perot channelled spectrum is also following the star spectrum, while the FP thickness is measured by heterodyne detection of the beats between a tunable laser diode and a stabilized laser diode. A complete prototype of the instrument is operating with laboratory sources and the first results are presented. It is planned to use this system with a new spectrograph, to be coupled to the 152 cm telescope at Observatoire de Haute Provence.     

Improvement in the performance of solar adaptive optics

Adaptive optics （AO）, which provides diffraction limited imaging over a field-of-view （FOV）, is a powerful technique for solar observation. In the tomographic approach, each wavefront sensor （WFS） is looking at a single reference that acts as a guide star. This allows a 3D reconstruction of the distorted wavefront to be made. The correction is applied by one or more deformable mirrors （DMs）. This technique benefits from information about atmospheric turbulence at different layers, which can be used to reconstruct the wavefront extremely well. With the assistance of the MAOS software package, we consider the tomography errors and WFS aliasing errors, and focus on how the performance of a solar telescope （pointing toward zenith） is related to atmospheric anisoplanatism. We theoretically quantify the performance of the to- mographic solar AO system. The results indicate that the tomographic AO system can improve the average Strehl ratio of a solar telescope in a 10＂ - 80＂ diameter FOV by only employing one DM conjugated to the telescope pupil. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of DM conjugate altitude on the correction achievable by the AO system by selecting two atmospheric models that differ mainly in terms of atmospheric prop- erties at ground level, and present the optimum DM conjugate altitudes for different observation sites.     

The photometric method of detecting other planetary systems

The photometric method detects planets orbiting other stars by searching for the reduction in the light flux or the change in the color of the stellar flux that occurs when a planet transits a star. A transit by Jupiter or Saturn would reduce the stellar flux by approximately 1% while a transit by Uranus or Neptune would reduce the stellar flux by 0.1%. A highly characteristic color change with an amplitude approximately 0.1 of that for the flux reduction would also accompany the transit and could be used to verify that the source of the flux reduction was a planetary transit rather than some other phenomenon. Although the precision required to detect major planets is already available with state-of-the-art photometers, the detection of terrestrial-sized planets would require a precision substantially greater than the state-of-the-art and a spaceborne platform to avoid the effects of variations in sky transparency and scintillation. Because the probability is so small of observing a planetary transit during a single observation of a randomly chosen star, the search program must be designed to continuously monitor hundreds or thousands of stars. The most promising approach is to search for large planets with a photometric system that has a single-measurement precision of 0.1%. If it is assumed that large planets will have long-period orbits, and that each star has an average of one large planet, then approximately 10⁴ stars must be monitored continuously. To monitor such a large groups of stars simultaneously while maintaining the required photometric precision, a detector array coupled by a fiber-optic bundle to the focal plane of a moderate aperture (≈ 1 m), wide field of view (≈50°) telescope is required. Based on the stated assumptions, a detection rate of one planet per year of observation appears possible.     

The ALFA Laser: Beam Relay and Control System

The ALFA laser subsystem uses a 4 watt continuous wave laser beam to produce an artificial guide star in the mesospheric sodium layer as a reference for wavefront sensing. In this article we describe the system design, focusing on the layout of the beam relay system. It consists of seven mirrors, four of which are motor-controlled in closed loop operation accounting for turbulences inside the dome and flexure of the main telescope.The control system features several computers which are located close to analysis and control units. The distribution of the tasks and their interaction is presented, as well as the graphical user interface used to operate the complete system. This is followed by a discussion of the aircraft detection system ALIENS. This system shuts off the laser beam when an object passes close to the outgoing laser.     

NAOMI/OASIS on-sky performance

NAOMI is the AO system of the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. It delivers an AO-corrected image to a lenslet array at the focal plane of the optical integral-field spectrograph OASIS. The resulting 1100 spectra are imaged onto a high-QE, low-fringing MITLL3 CCD. A range of spectroscopic and spatial (0.09–0.42 arcsec/lenslet) configurations is available. At wavelength  0.7 μm, the NAOMI-corrected FWHM is typically half that of the natural seeing. Scheduled OASIS observing began in semester 2004B, with 9 programmes awarded a total of 26 nights during the first year of operation. A Rayleigh laser guide star is under development, with first light expected summer 2006. In conjunction with NAOMI/OASIS, this will provide a unique facility: AO-corrected optical integral-field spectroscopy anywhere on the northern sky.     

Pseudo-infinite guide stars for multi-conjugated adaptive optics on extremely large telescopes

We introduce a novel concept to sense the wavefront for adaptive optics purposes in astronomy using a conventional laser beacon. The concept we describe involves treating the light scattered in the mesospheric sodium layer as if it comes from multiple rings located at infinity. Such a concept resembles an inverse Bessel beam and is particularly suitable for multi-conjugated adaptive optics on extremely large telescopes. In fact, as the sensing process uses light apparently coming from infinity, some problems linked to the finite distance and vertical extent of the guide source are solved. Since such a technique is able to sense a wavefront solely in the radial direction, we propose furthermore a novel wavefront sensor by combining the inverse Bessel beam approach with the recently introduced z -invariant technique for a pseudo-infinite guide star sensor.     

The Ultimate CCD for Laser Guide Star Wavefront Sensing on Extremely Large Telescopes

All of the extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will utilize sodium laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) systems. Most of these telescopes plan to use the Shack-Hartmann approach for wavefront sensing. In these AO systems, the laser spots in subapertures at the edge of the pupil will suffer from spot elongation due to the 10 km extent of the sodium layer and the large separation from the projection laser. This spot elongation will severely degrade the performance of standard geometry wavefront sensing systems. In this paper, we present a CCD with custom pixel morphology that aligns the pixels of each subaperture with the radial extension of the LGS spot. This CCD design will give better performance than a standard geometry CCDs for continuous wave lasers. In addition, this CCD design is optimal for a pulsed sodium laser. The pixel geometry enables each subaperture to follow a laser pulse traversing the sodium layer, providing optimal sampling of a limited number of detected photons. In addition to novel pixel layout, this CCD will also incorporate experimental JFET sense amplifiers and use CMOS design approaches to simplify the routing of biases, clocks and video output. This CCD will attain photon-noise limited performance at high frame rates, and is being incorporated in the plans for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).     

Formation of density inhomogeneity in laser produced plasmas for?a?test bed of magnetic field amplification in supernova remnants

Density inhomogeneities for a test bed of magnetic field amplification in supernova remnants (SNRs) were created in laser produced plasmas. The density inhomogeneity is considered to be essential to the large magnetic field amplification to account for the very fast cosmic ray acceleration. In order to model the density variations about an order of magnitude in an interstellar medium, we performed three types of experiments using a high-power laser system: (1) irradiating a plastic (CH) plane with a single focal spot beams, (2) the same target with spatial separation of laser focal spots, and (3) irradiating a striped target of thin and thick CH plane. By irradiating a CH plane target with a single focal spot laser beams, a plasma plume was produced with the large density range. On the other hand, when the several laser beams with displacements of the focal spots, bumpy structures of electron density were produced. Making thin stripes on a CH plane target, density and velocity inhomogeneities were produced by irradiating the striped target with the laser beams. In the all methods the density variations were very large, which can be used for a model experiment of the magnetic field amplification.     

A method to measure the mirror reflectivity of a prime focus telescope

We have developed a method to measure the mirror reflectivity of telescopes. While it is relatively easy to measure the local reflectivity of the mirror material, it is not so straightforward to measure the amount of light that it focuses in a spot of a given diameter. Our method is based on the use of a CCD camera that is fixed on the mirror dish structure and observes simultaneously part of the telescope’s focal plane and the sky region around its optical axis. A white diffuse reflecting disk of known reflectivity is fixed in the telescopes focal plane. During a typical reflectivity measurement the telescope is directed to a selected star. The CCD camera can see two images of the selected star, one directly and another one as a spot focused by the mirror on the white disk. The ratio of the reflected starlight integrated by the CCD from the white disk to the directly measured one provides a precise result of the product of (mirror area × mirror reflectivity).     

A Road Map for the Generation of a Near-Infrared Guide Star Catalog for Thirty Meter Telescope Observations

The near-infrared instruments in the upcoming Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will be assisted by a multi conjugate Adaptive Optics (AO) system. For the efficient operation of the AO system, during observations, a near-infrared guide star catalog which goes as faint as 22 mag in J_Vega band is essential and such a catalog does not exist. A methodology, based on stellar atmospheric models, to compute the expected near-infrared magnitudes of stellar sources from their optical magnitudes is developed. The method is applied and validated in JHKs bands for a magnitude range of J_Vega 16–22 mag. The methodology is also applied and validated using the reference catalog of PAN STARRS. We verified that the properties of the final PAN STARRS optical catalog will satisfy the requirements of TMT IRGSC and will be one of the potential sources for the generation of the final catalog. In a broader context, this methodology is applicable for the generation of a guide star catalog for any existing/upcoming near-infrared telescopes.     

Probing young massive clusters with laser guide star adaptive optics

We use laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS/AO) on the 10 m Keck II telescope to obtain high spatial resolution images of young massive clusters (YMCs) in NGC1569 and M82. These data probe YMC structure and the relation of the YMCs to the ambient field star population. The higher resolution of Keck LGS/AO relative to Hubble Space Telescope/NICMOS in the near-infrared enables us to examine whether YMCs are monolithic or hierarchical assemblies. The new integral-field spectrometer OSIRIS operating behind LGS/AO can trace the distribution of massive evolved stars within a cluster and reveal the nature of mass segregation.     

Monte Carlo simulations of star clusters – II. Tidally limited, multimass systems with stellar evolution

A revision of Stodółkiewicz's Monte Carlo code is used to simulate evolution of large star clusters. The new method treats each superstar as a single star and follows the evolution and motion of all individual stellar objects. A survey of the evolution of N -body systems influenced by the tidal field of a parent galaxy and by stellar evolution is presented. The process of energy generation is realized by means of appropriately modified versions of Spitzer's and Mikkola's formulae for the interaction cross-section between binaries and field stars and binaries themselves. The results presented are in good agreement with theoretical expectations and the results of other methods (Fokker–Planck, Monte Carlo and N -body). The initial rapid mass loss, resulting from stellar evolution of the most massive stars, causes expansion of the whole cluster and eventually leads to the disruption of less bound systems ( W ₀=3). Models with larger W ₀ survive this phase of evolution and then undergo core collapse and subsequent post-collapse expansion, like isolated models. The expansion phase is eventually reversed when tidal limitation becomes important. The results presented are the first major step in the direction of simulating evolution of real globular clusters by means of the Monte Carlo method.     

The star formation histories of two northern LMC fields

Ground-based UBV photometry of two fields in the northern disc of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is presented. A distance modulus of ( m − M )₀=18.41±0.04 and an extinction of A _V =0.30±0.05 have been calculated for these fields. The measurable star formation history of the LMC began no more than 12 Gyr ago with a strong star‐forming episode with [Fe/H]=−1.63±0.10 that accounted for approximately half (by mass) of the total star formation of the LMC in the first 3 Gyr. The data do not give accurate star formation rates during intermediate ages, but there appears to have been a recent increase in the star formation rate in these fields, beginning approximately 2.5 Gyr ago, with the current metallicity in the region being [Fe/H]=−0.38±0.10. The two fields have had very similar star formation rates until 200 Myr ago, at which point one shows a large increase.     

OSIRIS: AO-assisted integral-field spectroscopy at the Keck Observatory

OSIRIS (OH-Suppressing Infra-Red Integral-field Spectrograph) is a new facility instrument for the Keck Observatory. After seeing first light in February 2005, OSIRIS is currently undergoing commissioning. OSIRIS provides the capability of performing three-dimensional spectroscopy in the near-infrared z, J, H, and K bands at the resolution limit of the Keck II telescope, which is equipped with adaptive optics and a laser guide star. The science case for OSIRIS is summarized, and the instrument and associated data reduction software are described.     

Laser guide stars for extremely large telescopes: efficient Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor design using the weighted centre-of-gravity algorithm

Over the last few years increasing consideration has been given to the study of laser guide stars (LGS) for the measurement of the disturbance introduced by the atmosphere in optical and near-infrared (near-IR) astronomical observations from the ground. A possible method for the generation of a LGS is the excitation of the sodium layer in the upper atmosphere at approximately 90 km of altitude. Since the sodium layer is approximately 10 km thick, the artificial reference source looks elongated, especially when observed from the edge of a large aperture. The spot elongation strongly limits the performance of the most common wavefront sensors. The centroiding accuracy in a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor, for instance, decreases proportionally to the elongation (in a photon noise dominated regime). To compensate for this effect, a straightforward solution is to increase the laser power, i.e. to increase the number of detected photons per subaperture. The scope of the work presented in this paper is twofold: an analysis of the performance of the weighted centre of gravity algorithm for centroiding with elongated spots and the determination of the required number of photons to achieve a certain average wavefront error over the telescope aperture.     

Periodic phenomena in Ae / Be Herbig stars light curves

Light curves of 78 Herbig Ae/Be stars were studied by digital analysis methods. Twenty-five thousand photoelectricUBVR observations of these stars were made by the authors in 1978–1990. A star was usually observed once a night. The stars were observed between 70 and 770 nights and on average each star was observed at more than 300 nights. The mean epoch for a star is 5 years. A morphologic classification of the light curves is suggested. The method of digital analysis are briefly described. To estimate the reliability of cyclic phenomena discovered in our study, a large number of them has been examined.