VSOP Space VLBI observations of Pearson-Readhead survey sources

The VSOP Space VLBI mission uses the HALCA spacecraft, launched from Japan in February 1997, in conjunction with ground radio observatories around the world to create a high resolution radio-wavelength imaging facility. We are using this unique facility to observe a sub-sample of Pearson-Readhead Survey sources at 4.8 GHz to determine core brightness temperatures and pc-scale jet properties. We will highlight one of the sources that has been observed using a combination of the HALCA spacecraft and the EVN, 1642+690, and describe the preliminary brightness temperature distribution for the sub-sample, based on all data analyzed to date.     

Observations of methanol masers in star-forming regions

We present VLBI observations of 6.7 and 12.2 GHz methanol masers in three star-forming regions, NGC7538, W75N and S252. Our results reveal linear structures in the VLBI maps and monotonic velocity gradients in the three sources. All these results are consistent with Keplerian disks of diameter of 1000–2000 AU around young stars of mass (10–30) M.     

Numerical simulations of pinhole and single-mode fibre spatial filters for optical interferometers

We use a numerical simulation to investigate the effectiveness of pinhole spatial filters for optical/IR interferometers and to compare them with single-mode optical fibre spatial filters and interferometers without spatial filters. We show that fringe visibility measurements in interferometers containing spatial filters are much less affected by changing seeing conditions than equivalent measurements without spatial filters. This reduces visibility calibration uncertainties, and hence can reduce the need for frequent observations of separate astronomical sources for calibration of visibility measurements. We also show that spatial filters can increase the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of visibility measurements and that pinhole filters give SNRs within 17 per cent of the values obtained with single-mode fibres for aperture diameters up to 3 r ₀. Given the simplicity of the use of pinhole filters we suggest that it represents a competitive, if not optimal, technique for spatial filtering in many current and next generation interferometers.     

精密轨道支持下的哨兵卫星TOPS模式干涉处理

哨兵卫星采用TOPS模式成像,为确保影像干涉相位偏差小于3°,方位向配准精确度需达到0.001个像素。本文论证了哨兵卫星精密轨道条件下进行几何配准即可达到较高的配准精度,满足增强谱分集进行方位向残余偏移量估计的前提条件,并基于DORIS软件实现哨兵卫星TOPS模式影像的几何配准和增强谱分集优化配准处理。地表方位向形变等信号可导致Burst干涉图之间发生相位跳变,并对增强谱分集估计几何配准残余偏移量时产生干扰,本文开展了相关的理论分析和数据处理试验,提出粗差探测方法消除相位跳变对增强谱分集配准的干扰。     

IPTA方法在地面沉降监测中的应用

干涉点目标分析(IPTA)技术是一种新兴的In SAR形变测量技术。它克服了常规雷达差分干涉测量(DIn SAR)受失相干因素和大气延迟影响较大的问题。介绍了IPTA方法及处理流程,并对参数迭代估计、基线精化等关键问题进行了阐述。对加利福尼亚州安大略市的39幅ENVISAT ASAR数据进行IPTA处理,提取了2005—2010年间的地面沉降信息并进行了形变分析。结果表明,该方法在大范围地面沉降监测中应用效果良好。     

基于干涉点目标分析方法的大光包滑坡形变监测

为研究干涉点目标分析(IPTA)方法应用于超大型滑坡形变监测的有效性,采用IPTA方法处理大光包滑坡65景Sentinel-1A影像,获得大光包滑坡的总体形变趋势及时间序列,并与StaMPS-SBAS方法的处理结果进行交叉验证,同时结合全球降水数据进一步分析形变与降雨之间的关系。结果表明,IPTA方法在超大型滑坡形变监测方面具有较好的应用效果;大光包滑坡在观测期间一直处于形变状态,雷达视线向形变速率最高达-50.590 mm/a;滑坡特征点形变速率在雨季明显加快,存在再次发生滑坡的风险。     

Speckle observations with PISCO in Merate – II. Astrometric measurements of visual binaries in 2004

We present relative astrometric measurements of visual binaries taken during the second semester of 2004 with the Pupil Interferometry Speckle camera and Coronagraph (PISCO) at the 1-m Zeiss telescope of the Brera Astronomical Observatory, in Merate, Italy. We performed 207 new observations of 194 objects with angular separations in the range 0.1–4.0 arcsec and an accuracy better than ∼0.01 arcsec. Our sample contains orbital couples as well as binaries whose motion is still uncertain. Our purpose is to improve the accuracy of the orbits and constrain the masses of the components.
Those measurements show that the orbit of ADS 15115 needs to be revised; we propose a new orbit for this object.