空间光学的发展与波前传感技术

进入21世纪,国际上一些发达国家和有关部门都已制定了空间发展战略规划,如美国航空航天局(NASA)、欧洲空间局(ESA)和俄罗斯政府相关部门等都提出空间发展战略规划,这些规划提出了今后一段时间内空间科学要解决的问题和发展的方向,而解决这些问题并推进空间技术的发展很大程度上依赖于先进的光学和无线电望远镜及仪器设备。因此,本文介绍本世纪初国际上空间科学应用的大型天文望远镜的发展情况,重点描述了大口径光学望远镜的光学系统以及实现这类天文望远镜的关键技术之一—波前传感技术。     

天文光学望远镜的调校与检测

本文扼要叙述了天文光学望远镜的通用调校步骤与方法，适用于诸如卡氏（Ｃａｓｓｅｇｒａｉｎ）、葛氏（Ｇｒｅｇｏｒｙ）、奈氏（Ｎａｓｍｙｔｈ）、折轴（Ｃｏｕｄé）、施密特（Ｓｃｈｍｉｄｔ）、牛顿（Ｎｅｗｔｏｎ）望远镜、…等的光学元件及系统的调校。对极轴的高度与方位的调整，也给以简要介绍。本文还概述了对成像质量的检测。文中以通光口径２．１６ｍ天文望远镜为例，给出了光路调整图。     

大口径望远镜的高分辨成像技术

大口径望远镜的高分辨率成像观测技术是一项对天文学研究和空间目标探测都非常重要的技术,其中最核心的就是自适应光学。文章简要回顾了天文望远镜以及自适应光学技术的发展历程,围绕未来大口径望远镜发展需求,详细介绍了具有高空间分辨率特色的液晶自适应光学技术的发展历史及其现状。     

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.     

光学综合孔径望远镜中子望远镜平行性和光程差调整的研究

光干涉技术与天文望远镜技术的结合是提高天文观测分辨率的一种有效方法.采用望远镜阵代替单个大口径望远镜来集光观测,利用最大基线的概念来等效传统光学望远镜的最大口径,很大程度上解决了单个望远镜集光能力不足、角分辨率不高的问题.然而对于光干涉来说,在应用中,只有满足:两束光的相位差δ必须相对稳定、存在相互平行的振动分量、频率相同、两光波在相遇点所产生振动的振幅相差不悬殊和两光波在相遇点的光程差(OPD)应在相干长度之内等这些条件时才能部分相干.光学综合孔径(OAS)望远镜产生干涉条纹的前提条件是子望远镜之间必须两两相干.推导了双光束光干涉的要求,并从双光束干涉的平行性和光程差的要求出发,研究并得出光学综合孔径望远镜子望远镜的平行性和光程差的要求.结合双光束干涉的恒星光干涉仪的光束平行性和光程差的调整方案,研究并得到了光学综合孔径望远镜子望远镜的平行性和光程差调整的光学方案,并讨论了该系统的改进措施.     

带有二元光学元件的可见光望远镜设计

本文讨论了可见光常规望远镜的特点及存在的问题，论述了在望远镜系统中加入二元光学元件（ＢＯＥ）的优点和设计方法。通过具体设计实例表明：混合型望远镜系统与光学性能与基本相同的常规望远镜相比，元件数目减少，且所有元件均使用Ｋ９玻璃，系统重量变轻，系统的结构简化。     

智能光学的概念及发展

智能光学是在主动光学和自适应光学基础上发展起来的新兴的概念。本文介绍了智能光学概念的提出和发展过程,并进一步明确和扩展了智能光学的概念和范畴。对智能光学的技术基础及其应用现状进行了总结和评述,主要包括动态光学调制技术、动态光学探测技术、智能光学系统等,涉及了天文、军事、空间、生物医学等领域中应用的望远镜、显微镜、激光器等光学系统和光学设备。最后,对智能光学的未来发展和应用前景提出了展望。     

基于多视场星点椭圆率的望远镜主动准直方法

光学元件的准直失调会引起天文望远镜在观测过程中的像质退化,该问题在大口径快焦比的天文光学系统中更为突出。针对此问题,本文提出一种用于望远镜日常观测过程中的主动准直方法,通过星像解算实时校正副镜位置及姿态达到维持望远镜像质的目的。该方法基于多视场星点椭圆率,利用粒子群优化算法迭代求解望远镜光学元件失调量,从而校正由光学元件失调引起的低阶像差。利用1.6 m多通道测光巡天望远镜光学系统进行模拟仿真,求解副镜失调量残余误差小于1%,在系统设计公差范围以内。利用南极巡天望远镜AST3-3模拟及实验验证,表明该方法可高精度求解望远镜光学元件的失调误差。     

大型光学天文望远镜风载作用分析

风载对光学天文望远镜结构和镜面的作用将直接影响望远镜的面形精度和跟踪指向控制,从而降低望远镜的像质。特别是未来大型望远镜越来越多地采用主动光学技术,风载的作用将是影响主动光学子镜的主动控制及望远镜整体性能的重要因素。回顾了大型望远镜风载作用的分析方法和随机风载的性质,详细介绍了采用风速功率谱密度方法进行随机风载分析的过程和采用有限元方法分析建模的方法;建立了一个拼接镜面主动光学望远镜的完整计算模型,研究了子镜及望远镜整体在风载作用下的静态和动态响应,并分析了风载对镜面面形和望远镜的跟踪指向精度的影响。     

《相对论、宇宙与时空》连载——人类早期对宇宙的认识

今年是天文望远镜发明400周年．望远镜的发明彻底改变了人类仅凭肉眼观察天象的历史，使人类的视线得以深入宇宙的深处和遥远的过去．由于光信号的传播需要时间，我们看到的天体都是它们过去的样子，越远的天体图像越古老，因此望远镜不仅在看远方，而且在看历史．天文望远镜的出现，极大地加深了人类对宇宙和时空的认识，也极大地促进了天文学和物理学的发展．相对论和现代化时空理论、现代宇宙学的创立和发展，都离不开望远镜的贡献．本刊特以《相对论、宇宙与时空》为题，发表连载文章，以纪念发明天文望远镜这一科学史上的重大历史事件．更多的内容请参见本文作者的专著《物理学与人类文明十六讲》（高等教育出版社，2008年9月出版）．     

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.     

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.     

Visible interferometric coupling of two telescopes through single mode optical fibers

The diameter of large conventional astronomical telescopes is currently restricted to the range of eight to ten meters. With this limitation in mind, there is an emerging interest in various applications of optical interferometry which would allow the synthesis of apertures larger than can be realized using current mirror fabrication technologies. Interferometry allows the substitution of the separation between telescopes to determine the limiting resolution rather than the diffraction limited resolving power of the individual telescope aperture(s). The implementation of this process, however, requires solutions to a number of difficult problems in the transport and recombination of optical wavefronts. The use of single mode (SM) optical fibers to transport and recombine optical wavefronts in interferometers offers a number of advantages as compared to other, more established techniques, yet suffers from an inefficient coupling of the wavefront energy into the very narrow fiber cores. We present preliminary results of an experiment in which interferometric recombination of wavefronts from two telescopes using SM fibers was used to obtain white light fringes on the bright star Arcturus ( Bootis). Our experience leads us to believe that for many imaging applications the continued development of fiber based interferometry will yield significant resolution gains over the diffraction limited performance associated with conventional monolithic aperture systems.     

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．     

The Application of Superconducting Tunnel Junction Detectors to Astronomy

Detectors based on the superconducting-insulating-superconducting (SIS) junction long ago surpassed Schottky-diode semiconductor detectors as the most sensitive heterodyne mixers in the millimeter and submillimeter (far-infrared) wavelength range. Other novel superconducting device configurations have been applied as direct detectors. Though still in the early stages of development, and yet to find widespread application, they have demonstrated advantages over traditional semiconductor detectors in specialized situations. Exciting progress has been made in recent years in developing the superconducting tunnel junctions (STJ) as a photon detector for optical and near-optical wavelengths, where silicon CCD's are currently dominant. I examine some of the areas in which the properties of STJ detectors may best match the instrument capabilities that astronomical observations require, and discuss the implications of the intrinsic spectral resolution of the STJ. This capability will enable a significant increase in observing efficiency, once the technology matures, that should justify increased complexity of cryogenic systems, particularly for instruments to be used on the next generation of large ground-based telescopes.     

高分辨和超分辨光学成像技术在空间和生物中的应用

大到天文光学望远镜观察浩瀚的宇宙, 小到光学显微镜探察细微的纳米世界, 光学成像技术在人类探索和发现未知世界奥秘的活动中扮演着至关重要的角色. 看得更远、看得更细、看得更清楚是人们不断追求的目标. 传统光学理论已证明所有经典光学系统都是一个衍射受限系统, 即光学系统空间分辨率的物理极限是由光的波长和系统的相对孔径(或数值孔径)决定的. 能否突破这个极限？能否不断提高光学系统的成像分辨率？围绕着这个问题, 本文综述了近年来开展的各种光学高分辨和超分辨成像技术, 及其在空间探测和生物领域中的应用.     

Design of a space borne optical aperture synthesis system for high resolution astronomy

This paper proposes a design for a space borne demonstrator interferometer with imaging capabilities. This demonstrator would be a first step in the development of an operational astronomical instrument using aperture synthesis.Multiple aperture interferometry is a promising technique for high resolution imaging in space. Indeed the use of modular elements based on optical fibres represents an attractive low cost approach.The instrument is based on the use of independent triplets of telescope linked with optical fibres. For each triplet, only the phase closure of the system is measured. This does not require an accurate cophasing of the apertures and leads to realistic stability and control specifications. The complete instrument is then built by adding the desired number of such triplet modules. The detailed design of one module is described starting at level of the receiving telescopes down to the focal plane where the control of the stability of the optical path differences is performed as well as the scientific observations. The global operation of the system will also be described.We also briefly recall the technology validation activities which have shown on the ground the feasibility and performance of all components of such a systems as well as its end to end validation.