地基大口径望远镜系统结构技术综述

概述了地基大口径望远镜的发展状况,阐述了口径变大的意义及实现的关键技术途径。概括了当前大口径望远镜的应用价值。介绍了国外5种典型的大口径望远镜系统,它们代表了当前地基大口径望远镜发展的最高技术水平。从跟踪架、主望远镜筒、主镜支撑及次镜支撑调整几个方面论述了大口径望远镜的结构特点及关键技术。最后,总结了大口径望远镜系统的发展趋势,指出其光学系统已从同轴系统向离轴系统发展并极具应用前景。     

Recording of ultrahigh-energy astrophysical neutrinos

This review is devoted to the problems of recording ultrahigh-energy neutrinos produced in distant astrophysical sources and during the decay of supermassive particles. Prospects for the detection of neutrino fluxes are considered based on peculiarities of the propagation and interaction of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos. The operating and planned facilities designed to investigate neutrinos from various sources are described: neutrino telescopes recording neutrino interactions in natural water and ice volumes; ground-based arrays of detectors and optical telescopes onboard orbital space stations capable of detecting neutrino-triggered horizontal air showers. Instruments based on new principles of recording neutrinos with extremely high energies are considered: radio telescopes designed to observe Cherenkov radio emission from neutrino cascades originating in such radio-transparent natural environments as the atmosphere, salt domes, ice packs, and lunar regolith; underwater acoustic detectors. It is shown that putting new facilities into operation will allow neutrinos from most of the known astrophysical sources with energies differing by more than ten orders of magnitude, from 10¹² to 10²²–10²⁴ eV, to be recorded.     

Starburst galaxies as seen by gamma-ray telescopes

Starburst galaxies have a highly increased star-formation rate compared to regular galaxies and inject huge amounts of kinetic power into the interstellar medium via supersonic stellar winds, and supernova explosions. Supernova remnants, which are considered to be the main source of cosmic rays (CRs), form an additional, significant energy and pressure component and might influence the star-formation process in a major way. Observations of starburst galaxies at γ-ray energies give us the unique opportunity to study non-thermal phenomena associated with hadronic CRs and their relation to the star-formation process. In this work, recent observations of starburst galaxies with space and ground-based γ-ray telescopes are being reviewed, and the current state of theoretical work on the γ-ray emission is discussed. A special emphasis is put on the prospects of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array for the study of starburst galaxies in particular and star-forming galaxies in general.     

望远镜和天文学：400年的回顾与展望

联合国已宣布2009年为国际天文年,以纪念伽利略开始用望远镜观测天体400周年.作者将400年望远镜和相关技术的发展分为四个里程碑,讲述了它们的出现和随后的发展;介绍了中国已完成的和正在研制中的望远镜,作者支持未来10年中国再上三个大项目;作者紧密联系天文学和物理学上的重大学说总结了400年天文学的主要成就;作者赞同未来研究的重点应是暗物质和暗能量,尤其是暗能量的研究.     

Telescope illumination and beam measurements for submillimeter astronomy

Submillimeter receivers which operate in the highest frequency atmospheric windows must still be mounted on large infrared and optical telescopes. Finding the optimum submillimeter wave illumination for these large telescopes is simplified by their effectively perfect optical surfaces and long focal lengths, but is complicated by telescope optics which have been optimized for non-tapered beams. In order to determine the effects of changing illumination edge taper, we calculated idealized aperture and beam efficiencies for telescopes which are used for submillimeter astronomical observations. The optimum illumination edge taper for the large infrared telescopes is near 10 dB, somewhat less than for classical radio telescopes, and is not very critical as long as it is between 10 and 13 dB.We also present an accurate method for measuring the sizes of, and deviations from, Gaussian beam pattern distributions by using astronomical sources which have sizes comparable with the beam.     

Thermography: Imaging in the far infrared

Thermography, the art of visualizing and interpreting thermal patterns, is a versatile new tool for science, medicine and technology. It is developing rapidly and spreading into widely diverse fields. Although its origins are more than 130 years old, the first practical applications (in military reconnaissance) were achieved only 15 years ago. Today, clinical thermography offers new hope in the fight against cancer, and has many other uses; it is a completely passive diagnostic method and absolutely safe. In industry, thermography has potential value whenever there are problems in measuring temperature over extended areas, where point contact methods are insufficient, tedious, or impossible (e.g. in inaccessible places). Thermographic microscopes and telescopes offer great possibilities which are only just beginning to be explored. The design of thermographic equipment presents problems which do not arise in most electro-optical systems, including television, and which more nearly resemble the design problems of radio telescopes. This article reviews the basic principles and the design optimization of thermographic scanners.     

基于带状弹簧的空间望远镜精密展开技术进展

采用带状弹簧构造的可折叠多杆并联结构对卡塞格林型望远镜的次镜进行支撑,并结合在轨调节,可以实现口径＜1 m的可展开空间望远镜。描述了基于带状弹簧的可展开空间望远镜的结构特点,介绍了近年来发表的四杆支撑、八杆支撑、三杆支撑和六杆支撑等4种基于带状弹簧的空间望远镜精密展开技术的研究进展。建议针对带状弹簧空间望远镜的精密展开技术,应进一步开展结构动力学建模、结构优化以及误差的光电测量和校正等方面的研究。此外,在模拟微重力环境下展开实验也有助于推动展开动力学和展开精度的研究,而非对称展开结构将是今后该项技术的研究方向之一。认为开展基于带状弹簧的空间望远镜精密展开技术的研究将促进基于微小卫星平台的高分辨率遥感成像和自由空间光通信技术的发展。     

Scientific discovery with the James Webb Space Telescope

For the past 400 years, astronomers have sought to observe and interpret the Universe by building more powerful telescopes. These incredible instruments extend the capabilities of one of our most important senses, sight, towards new limits such as increased sensitivity and resolution, new dimensions such as exploration of wavelengths across the full electromagnetic spectrum, new information content such as analysis through spectroscopy, and new cadences such as rapid time-series views of the variable sky. The results from these investments, from small to large telescopes on the ground and in space, have completely transformed our understanding of the Universe; including the discovery that Earth is not the centre of the Universe, that the Milky Way is one among many galaxies in the Universe, that relic cosmic background radiation fills all space in the early Universe, that that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating, that exoplanets are common around stars, that gravitational waves exist, and much more. For modern astronomical research, the next wave of breakthroughs in fields ranging over planetary, stellar, galactic, and extragalactic science motivate a general-purpose observatory that is optimised at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, and that has much greater sensitivity, resolution, and spectroscopic multiplexing than all previous telescopes. This scientific vision, from measuring the composition of rocky worlds in the nearby Milky Way galaxy to finding the first sources of light in the Universe to other topics at the forefront of modern astrophysics, motivates the state-of-the-art James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). In this review paper, I summarise the design and technical capabilities of Webb and the scientific opportunities that it enables.     

X射线天文望远镜的进展

综述了近年来X射线天文望远镜(如准直型望远镜、编码孔径望远镜、正入射周期多层膜望远镜、掠入射单层膜望远镜和掠入射非周期多层膜望远镜以及新型的“龙虾眼”型望远镜)的发展；阐述了各种X射线天文望远镜工作的原理和成像特点，指出各种X射线天文望远镜之间的性能是相互补充的；简要说明了国内近年来在X射线天文望远镜研究方面取得的进展，并展望了下一步工作．     

光学天文望远镜的足迹

文章以较为轻松的笔调概述了光学天文望远镜400年的发展史.全文分7个部分,内容包括望远镜的诞生、像差和消色差透镜、传统的反射望远镜和折射望远镜、施密特望远镜的作用、当代巨型望远镜的出现、空间望远镜,以及对月基望远镜的憧憬.     

Multilayer Semiconductor Charged-Particle Spectrometers for Accelerator Experiments

The current state of studies in the field of development of multilayer semiconductor systems (semiconductor detector (SCD) telescopes), which allow the energy to be precisely measured within a large dynamic range (from a few to a few hundred MeV) and the particles to be identified in a wide mass range (from pions to multiply charged nuclear fragments), is presented. The techniques for manufacturing the SCD telescopes from silicon and high-purity germanium are described. The issues of measuring characteristics of the constructed detectors and their impact on the energy resolution of the SCD telescopes and on the quality of the experimental data are considered. Much attention is given to the use of the constructed semiconductor devices in experimental studies at accelerators of PNPI (Gatchina), LANL (Los Alamos) and CELSIUS (Uppsala).     

Computer simulations of astronomical objects as seen by ground based optical telescopes

Computer simulations were carried out to investigate the limitations imposed by atmospheric turbulence on observing astronomical objects by 3·5 and 1·25 m optical telescopes. These limitations were studied in terms of the modulation transfer function of a reference star and the autocorrelation function of a binary star. Results demonstrate the quantitative comparative study between these telescopes in the presence of different seeing conditions for both short- and long-exposure recording.     

Massively parallel

The present surge in the building of telescopes of more than 6 m aperture far surpasses even the efforts of the 1970s when several 3·5-4 m telescopes were built. Early in the next century, astronomers world-wide will have gained about 750 m² of light-collecting area. New efficient detectors will make better use of the light collected by old and new telescopes alike. New optical designs promise further improvements.     

Error analysis and optimal design of polarization calibration unit for solar telescope

Polarization calibration unit(PCU) has become an indispensable element for solar telescopes to remove the instrumental polarization; the polarimetric accuracy of calibration depends strongly on the properties of PCU. In the paper, we analyze the measurement errors induced by PCU based on polarized light theory and find that the imperfections of the waveplate generate the main calibration errors. An optimized calibration method is proposed to avoid the effects from waveplate imperfections, and a numerical simulation is given to evaluate the polarization accuracy by analyzing the relation between calibration error and intensity instability. The work is very important for solar telescopes with high polarization precision up to 10~(-4) I_c.     

Status of dark matter detection

The detection of dark matter has made great progresses in recent years. We give a brief review on the status and progress in dark matter detection, including the progresses in direct detection, collider detection at LHC and focus on the indirect detection. The results from PAMELA, ATIC, Fermi-LAT and relevant studies on these results are introduced. Then we give the progress on indirect detection of gamma rays from Fermi-LAT and ground based Cerenkov telescopes. Finally the detection of neutrinos and constraints on the nature of dark matter are reviewed briefly.     

Adaptive optics in astronomy

Since Galileo’s first observations in 1609, telescopes have grown dramatically in size. Larger telescopes collect more light, allowing astronomers to detect fainter sources and to look further back in time towards the birth of the universe. The angular resolution of these telescopes, however, has been limited by turbulence in the earth’s atmosphere. This limitation can be dramatically reduced with the use of adaptive optics (AO) to measure and correct the blurring introduced by atmospheric turbulence. AO is now routinely used for science observations on the world’s largest telescopes and is providing a much more detailed view of our universe.     

The future of gamma-ray astronomy

The field of gamma-ray astronomy has experienced impressive progress over the last decade. Thanks to the advent of a new generation of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS) and thanks to the launch of the Fermi-LAT satellite, several thousand gamma-ray sources are known today, revealing an unexpected ubiquity of particle acceleration processes in the Universe. Major scientific challenges are still ahead, such as the identification of the nature of Dark Matter, the discovery and understanding of the sources of cosmic rays, or the comprehension of the particle acceleration processes that are at work in the various objects. This paper presents some of the instruments and mission concepts that will address these challenges over the next decades.     

Hubble Space Telescope observations of distant galaxies

The study of faint galaxies has inspired cosmologists since Edwin Bubble's pioneering observations in the 1920s. Appropriately, the successfully refurbished Space Telescope named after Hubble now holds the key to unravelling many of the outstanding questions in modern extragalactic astronomy, including how galaxies form and evolve in the expanding cosmos. The combination of Hubble Space Telescope's exquisite imaging and spectroscopy from ground-based telescopes is being used to resolve a major puzzle concerning a population of low mass galaxies which was particularly abundant a few billion years ago but which has mysteriously vanished by the present epoch. The solution to the puzzle may shed new light on the physical processes which produce the rich variety of galaxy types we see today.     

光电望远镜暗弱目标识别算法及探测能力

通过空间目标的光度测量可判断目标在轨运动特性和进行编目识别。对光电望远镜在卫星姿态判定领域的应用进行了介绍,验证了一种暗弱目标识别算法,即霍夫变换。通过仿真计算分析了影响极限探测星等的因素,并从目标成像后在探测器上获得信噪比的一般计算公式出发,推导计算得出光电望远镜的极限探测星等理论值,并使用星图比对的方法进行了试验验证。结果表明,星图比对法是一种可靠的星等测量方法。     

Astronomical gamma ray telescopes in the pair production regime

Most of the gamma ray telescopes used up to now for energies above about 50 MeV have been very similar in design. Anticipated requirements for future telescopes will probably necessitate the use of a considerable amount of new technology.