天文光子学研究现状及其应用展望

天文学是一门观测学科, 其发展受观测技术及仪器进步所推动, 而天文科学发展同样不断对观测仪器提出新的要求. 天文学发展至今, 对观测仪器的要求逐渐走向极致和极端, 这在实现成本及难度两方面均带来极大挑战. 为应对上述挑战, 基于新原理、新技术的下一代天文光学技术及观测仪器已成为天文学发展的内在需要. 近年来, 集成光子学的发展为天文光学技术带来了新的变革性机遇, 在此基础上产生的新兴交叉学科天文光子学(Astrophotonics)可为天文观测提供低成本、高度集成化(芯片化)的新一代高性能光学终端仪器, 这类仪器将在空间天文观测、大规模光谱巡天、高分辨高精度光谱成像等应用中起到关键作用. 主要从仪器/器件功能出发介绍天文光子学主要研究内容及现状, 并简要讨论其发展所面临的主要问题, 最后对其发展趋势做出展望.     

天文学中的数据挖掘和知识发现

综述了数据挖掘和知识发现在天文学中兴起的必然性及其这几年的发展状况、实现过程和具体任务。分析了当前天文数据的复杂性，介绍了天文学中数据挖掘的科学要求。系统地概括了近年来天文学中数据挖掘和知识发现领域研究的进展及其热点，并阐述了其所面临的挑战。天文学中的数据挖掘和知识发现的兴起将对天文学的发展起到巨大的推动作用，同时也在知识和技术等方面对天文学家提出了新的要求。另外，数据挖掘技术能否在虚拟天文台中成功应用，是虚拟天文台充分发挥作用的关键所在。     

A new concept for the combination of optical interferometers and high-resolution spectrographs

The combination of high spatial and spectral resolution in optical astronomy enables new observational approaches to many open problems in stellar and circumstellar astrophysics. However, constructing a high-resolution spectrograph for an interferometer is a costly and time-intensive undertaking. Our aim is to show that, by coupling existing high-resolution spectrographs to existing interferometers, one could observe in the domain of high spectral and spatial resolution, and avoid the construction of a new complex and expensive instrument. We investigate in this article the different challenges which arise from combining an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph. The requirements for the different sub-systems are determined, with special attention given to the problems of fringe tracking and dispersion. A concept study for the combination of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) with UVES (UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph) is carried out, and several other specific instrument pairings are discussed. We show that the proposed combination of an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph is indeed feasible with current technology, for a fraction of the cost of building a whole new spectrograph. The impact on the existing instruments and their ongoing programs would be minimal.     

应用自适应光学望远镜所取得的天文观测成果

自适应光学技术已经成为现代地基天文光学望远镜的重要部分。在世界各地的天文台中 ,许多大型光学望远镜的自适应光学系统正在建造 ,不少的系统已经投入使用。自适应光学技术经过二十多年的发展 ,取得了越来越多的令人激动的天文观测成果 ,自适应光学正在接近成熟并正向天文实际应用的阶段转化。本文根据近几年来自适应光学望远镜在天文中的应用 ,对其所取得的天文成果给予介绍 ,并讨论了自适应光学系统所能开展的天文研究课题。     

Prospects for astronomical development in South Africa

Because of its geographical location and (astronomically) excellent climate South Africa can make an unique contribution to international astronomical research. An assessment of recent developments in telescope technology has shown that an advanced technology telescope of 4m-class can be constructed which will out-perform most existing 4m-class telescopes. Detailed consideration is given to the construction of such a telescope for optical/infrared astronomy, the new science that this will enable and the selection of a site of sufficiently good quality to justify the erection of such a telescope. If a telescope of this nature is sited in southern Africa it would provide the premier astronomical facility in Africa for decades to come.     

Optical fibers in astronomical instruments

Summary This review is of current and projected applications of optical fibers to observational astronomy. The intent is to provide astronomers with a broad perspective on the subject, with the hope of encouraging productive use of optical fibers in the design of new instrumentation. The unique characteristics of fibers have been (or soon will be) exploited to advantage in several areas of astronomical instrumentation, including multiplexers for muti-object spectrographs, remote optical feeds for spectrographs and photometers, coherent beam recombiners for optical interferomety, and many miscellaneous applications. We discuss the most important such applications in detail, with reference to operational instruments wherever possible, and with emphasis on the optical properties of fibers and the engineering considerations encountered in their application to observational astronomy.     

基于ASCOM标准的天文电动调焦器设计

随着天文技术的不断发展,远程观测和自主观测逐渐成为天文观测的主流趋势,自动调焦技术也越来越受到重视.电动调焦器是天文望远镜不可或缺的附属设备,是实现自动调焦的关键设备.为实现云南天文台丽江观测站10英寸米德望远镜的自动调焦,自行研发了一套天文电动调焦器,设计相关控制电路,制定串口通信协议,并编写了一套开源天文公共对象模...     

Astronomy from Dome A in Antarctica

Dome A in Antarctica has been demonstrated to be the best site on earth for optical, infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations by more and more evidence, such as excellent free-atmosphere seeing,extremely low perceptible water vapor, low sky background, and continuous dark time, etc. In this paper,we present a complete picture of the development of astronomy at Dome A from the very beginning, review recent progress in time-domain astronomy, demonstrate exciting results of the site testing, and address the challenges in instrumentation. Currently proposed projects are briefly discussed.     

Analysis of radio astronomy bands using CALLISTO spectrometer at Malaysia-UKM station

The e-CALLISTO system is a worldwide network that aims to observe solar radio emission for astronomical science. CALLISTO instruments have been deployed worldwide in various locations that together can provide continuous observation of the solar radio spectrum for 24 h per day year-round. Malaysia-UKM is a strategic equatorial location and can observe the Sun 12 h per day. This paper gives an overview of the spectrum allocation for radio astronomy, which falls in the specified operating frequency band of the CALLISTO spectrometer. The radio astronomy bands are analyzed at the Malaysia-UKM station according to the International Telecommunication Union recommendations. Some observational results are also presented in this paper.     

大气湍流理论的进展及其天文学意义(英)

传统的大气湍流理论始于大约30年前．湍流理论的发展使得天文学家对大气湍流对天文观测的影响有了很好的认识，尤其是它为天文台选址和天文高分辨率技术提供了基础．近年来新的天文观测已对传统的大气湍流理论提出了挑战，并可能给地面天文观测带来一场革命．在回顾了大气湍流理论的发展历史后对传统大气湍流理论的基本特性及其应用作了系统的综述，并介绍了新的天文观测事实以及为此而提出的新的大气湍流理论模型．     

LAMOST子镜镀膜研究进展

对大口径光学/红外天文望远镜而言,为保障其稳定高效运行,镜面镀膜是重要的维护环节之一.镀膜质量的好坏直接影响镜面光学反射率的高低,也严重影响到天文望远镜的成像质量、观测效率.国家重大科技基础设施—大天区面积多目标光纤光谱天文望远镜(Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, LAMOST,又名郭守敬望远镜)自2009年6月通过国家竣工验收并逐步投入巡天观测,目前已进入第2个5 yr巡天计划阶段,取得近两千万的光谱产出和大批高显示度的科学成果. LAMOST共拥有24块施密特改正镜子镜和37块球面主镜子镜,为了确保在野外恶劣观测环境下镜面反射率维持在较高水平,每年要对大批子镜进行镀膜.主要介绍了镀膜需求、镀膜设备,并基于大量实验和多年的完善探索出一套可行的镀膜工艺流程,确保了LAMOST子镜极高的镀膜质量.镀膜后子镜平均反射率高达90%以上,满足了LAMOST光谱巡天的镜面反射率要求.     

Science, Technology and Detectors for Extremely Large Telescopes

The second decade of the third millennium will hopefully see a new generation of extremely large telescopes. These will have diameters from 30 to 100 meters and use advanced adaptive optics to operate at the diffraction limit in order to detect astronomical objects that are impossible to observe today, such as earth-like planets around nearby stars and the earliest objects in the Universe. Even for small fields of view, the requirements for detectors are daunting, with sizes of several gigapixels, very fast readout times and extremely low readout noise. In this paper I briefly review the science case for ELTs and the requirements they set on telescopes and instruments, and report on the status of the OWL 100 m telescope project and the challenges it poses.     

I S L A An Astronomical World Space Observatory for The First Century of the 3 rd Millenium

ISLA will be an astronomical observatory, operating at the upper limit of our planet Earth atmosphere, offering space like observing conditions in most aspects. ISLA can be maintained easily, modified easily if necessary, always kept at the state of the art and operated for very extended periods without polluting the stratosphere. ISLA is ideally suited to become the first world space observatory as the observing conditions are very much space-like – diffraction limited angular resolution, very low ambient temperature, remote control – however ISLA is easily accessible, telescopes and instruments can be continuously improved and ISLA's costs corresponds only to those of ground-based modern astronomical installations like the ESO-VLT-, KECK- and GEMINI-observatories. The cost of observing and experimenting on ISLA will be orders of magnitudes lower than those of building and operating any space telescope, allowing the astronomers of developing nations to participate in the ISLA observatory within their limited financial possibilities as competent and full partners. ISLA's 4-m and 2-m telescopes will operate diffraction limited from 0.3 μm in the optical, over the infrared, far-infrared to the sub-mm spectral range. ISLA's individual telescopes will permit imaging with 20 milli-arcsec spatial resolution in the optical, 5 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope. ISLA's telescopes can be combined to form an interferometer with a maximum baseline of 250 m with nearly complete coverage of the u,v plane. Interferometric resolution will be of the order of 20 micro-arcsec for the optical. ISLA will thus offer spatial resolution comparable or better than the intercontinental VLBI radio interferometers. ISLA's telescope efficiency will be many orders of magnitude better than comparable ground-based telescopes. The light collecting power of ISLA's interferometric telescopes will be orders of magnitudes greater than the future space interferometers under discussion. ISLA, being an aviation project and not a space project, can be realised in the typical time scale for the development of aviation: about 5 years. ISLA's cost for the whole observatory, including its movable ground station etc. will be of the order of a typical medium size ESA space mission. ISLA's lifetime will be in excess of many decades, as it can easily be maintained, modernised, repaired and improved. ISLA will become the origin of a new astronomical international organisation with worldwide participation. ISLA's telescopes will be of the greatest importance to all astronomical fields, as it will permit to study much fainter, much more distant objects with microscopic spatial resolution in wavelength regions inaccessible from ground. ISLA's many telescopes permit easily simultaneous observations at many wavelengths for rapidly varying objects, from continuously monitoring the surfaces of the planets in our solar system, surfaces of close-by stars, nuclei of galaxies to QSO's. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

引力波理论和实验的新进展

引力波的存在是爱因斯坦在广义相对论理论中提出的一个重要预言．由于目前技术水平的限制,无法在实验室产生足以被探测到的引力波,因此宇宙中大量的大质量剧烈活动的天体成为科学家研究引力波的首选,从而诞生了引力波天文学．引力波探测将开启研究宇宙的新窗口,是继电磁辐射、宇宙线和中微子探测后探索宇宙奥秘的又一重要手段,对天文学研究有着极为重要的意义.新一代应用了高灵敏度的迈克耳逊干涉仪装置的长基线引力波探测仪正在建造中．该综述从引力波理论出发,阐述了目前研究较多的可探测引力波源,给出了目前观测上的最新进展,并展望了今后的发展前景．     

Thread safe astronomy

Observational astronomy is the beneficiary of an ancient chain of apprenticeship. Kepler's laws required Tycho's data. As the pace of discoveries has increased over the centuries, so has the cadence of tutelage (literally, “watching over”). Naked eye astronomy is thousands of years old, the telescope hundreds, digital imaging a few decades, but today's undergraduates will use instrumentation yet unbuilt – and thus, unfamiliar to their professors – to complete their doctoral dissertations. Not only has the quickening cadence of astronomical data‐taking overrun the apprehension of the science within, but the contingent pace of experimental design threatens our capacity to learn new techniques and apply them productively. Virtual technologies are necessary to accelerate our human processes of perception and comprehension to keep up with astronomical instrumentation and pipelined dataflows. Necessary, but not sufficient. Computers can confuse us as efficiently as they illuminate. Rather, as with neural pathways evolved to meet competitive ecological challenges, astronomical software and data must become organized into ever more coherent ‘threads’ of execution. These are the same threaded constructs as understood by computer science. No datum is an island. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Radio frequency interference mitigation using pseudoinverse learning autoencoders

Radio frequency interference(RFI) is an important challenge in radio astronomy. RFI comes from various sources and increasingly impacts astronomical observation as telescopes become more sensitive. In this study, we propose a fast and effective method for removing RFI in pulsar data. We use pseudo-inverse learning to train a single hidden layer auto-encoder(AE). We demonstrate that the AE can quickly learn the RFI signatures and then remove them from fast-sampled spectra, leaving real pulsar signals. This method has the advantage over traditional threshold-based filter method in that it does not completely remove contaminated channels, which could also contain useful astronomical information.     

30m级光学/红外望远镜的宽视场多目标光谱仪

宽视场多目标光谱仪具有宽波段、多分辨率模式和高通光效率的特点,是极大望远镜终端仪器使用率最高的通用型仪器. 30 m级望远镜的宽视场多目标光谱仪因体量和成本急剧增加而面临重要挑战,同时天文学的不断发展对天文新技术的发展提出了更高的要求,尤其是多个巡天项目对于多目标光谱后随观测的迫切需求.综述了几类宽视场多目标光谱仪的发展现状,介绍了国际3架30 m望远镜宽视场多目标光谱仪概念设计的最新进展和仪器特点,着重介绍了中国参与研制的30 m望远镜(TMT)中的宽视场多目标光谱仪的相关进展.     

数字图像压缩方法在天文上的应用

概述了数字图像压缩技术在天文领域应用的必要性。针对天文观测的特点和研究的需要，经过研究、分析和比较，提出了天文图像压缩的可行方案。通过应用计算机编程及压缩实验并给出相应的结果。     

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     

RTS2中新CCD类型扩展方法

CCD是天文望远镜中最常见的观测终端设备,也是望远镜自主控制系统中的重要组成部分。随着天文望远镜自主观测需求的不断出现以及技术的快速发展,开源的RTS2软件系统成为目前该领域研究中受到较多关注的系统之一。但RTS2支持的CCD设备较为有限,同时控制接口约定也相对固定。在针对部分特殊的CCD设备(如LAMOST中采用的32台CCD设备、选址用的部分CCD设备)时,仅实现原有类的方法是不够的。在深入分析RTS2源码的基础上,重点从参数、命令、协议扩展方面研究基于原有的Camera类,通过继承的方法构造新的CCD类型,实现对LAMOST项目的 CCD控制,取得了较好的效果,对在RTS2中集成望远镜系统其他类型设备也有较好的参考价值。