The Jiao Tong University Spectroscopic Telescope Project

The Jiao Tong University Spectroscopic Telescope(JUST)is a 4.4-meter f/6.0 segmented-mirror telescope dedicated to spectroscopic observations.The JUST primary mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal segments,each with a diameter of 1.1 m.JUST provides two Nasmyth platforms for placing science instruments.One Nasmyth focus fits a field of view of 10′and the other has an extended field of view of 1.2°with correction optics.A tertiary mirror is used to switch between the two Nasmyth foci.JUST will be installed at a site at Lenghu in Qinghai Province,China,and will conduct spectroscopic observations with three types of instruments to explore the dark universe,trace the dynamic universe,and search for exoplanets:(1)a multi-fiber(2000 fibers)medium-resolution spectrometer(R=4000-5000)to spectroscopically map galaxies and large-scale structure;(2)an integral field unit(IFU)array of 500 optical fibers and/or a long-slit spectrograph dedicated to fast follow-ups of transient sources for multi-messenger astronomy;(3)a high-resolution spectrometer(R~100000)designed to identify Jupiter analogs and Earth-like planets,with the capability to characterize the atmospheres of hot exoplanets.

Multi-field Split Curvature Wavefront Sensing and its Application in the Large Field Survey Telescope

The image quality of a large field survey telescope with a fast focal ratio of the primary mirror is high sensitivity to the optical elements’misalignments and the primary mirror’s deformations.To maintain good optical performance,the perturbations need to be aligned,and the tomographic reconstruction of these perturbations can be derived from wavefront sensing with multi-field points for alignment.This work undertakes a comprehensive examination related to the implementation and optimization of a multi-field split curvature wavefront sensing system,including defocus distance,signal pre-processing,deblending of overlapped doughnuts,field-dependent correction,and distorted coordinate correction.We also conduct experiments to demonstrate the application and performance of a multi-field split curvature wavefront sensing system in Mephisto.In the context of the decentering of the secondary mirror,the coefficient of determination(R)attains a high value of 0.993,indicating a robust linearity between the coma coefficients and the decentering of the secondary mirror.A comparative analysis of the simulated and experimental results shows that the difference between them is less than 0.1λ.

Machine Learning for Improving Stellar Image-based Alignment in Wide-field Telescopes

Stellar images will deteriorate dramatically when the sensitive elements of wide-field survey telescopes are misaligned during an observation, and active alignment is the key technology to maintain the high resolution of wide-field sky survey telescopes. Instead of traditional active alignment based on field-dependent wave front errors, this work proposes a machine learning alignment metrology based on stellar images of the scientific camera,which is more convenient and higher speed. We first theoretically confirm that the pattern of the point-spread function over the field is closely related to the misalignment status, and then the relationships are learned by twostep neural networks. After two-step active alignment, the position errors of misalignment parameters are less than5 μm for decenter and less than 5″ for tip-tilt in more than 90% of the cases. The precise alignment results indicate that this metrology provides a low-cost and high-speed solution to maintain the image quality of wide-field sky survey telescopes during observation, thus implying important significance and broad application prospects.

Optical system for extremely large spectroscopic survey telescope

This article presents research work on a spectroscopic survey telescope.Our idea is as follows:for such a telescope,a pure reflecting optical system is designed,which should have an aperture and a field of view(FOV)both as large as possible and excellent image quality,and then a strip lensm(lens-prism)atmospheric dispersion corrector(S-ADC)is added,only for correcting the atmospheric dispersion.Given the fund limitation and the simplicity of scaling up,some 12-m telescopes are designed as examples.Su,Korsch,and Meinel put forward the four-mirror Nasmyth systems I and II,which are used in this paper.FOVs of 1.5°,2°,and 2.5°are selected.For all systems,the image qualities are excellent.Because the S-ADC relaxes the optical glass size restriction,this 12-m telescope with a FOV of 2.5°can be magnified in proportion to a 16-m telescope.Its etendue(from Frenchétendue)and focal surface will now be the largest in the world.In such a telescope,a pure reflecting optical system can also be obtained.A subsequent coudésystem is designed with excellent image quality.

Optical observations of LIGO source GW 170817 by the Antarctic Survey Telescopes at Dome A,Antarctica

The LIGO detection of gravitational waves(GW) from merging black holes in 2015 marked the beginning of a new era in observational astronomy. The detection of an electromagnetic signal from a GW source is the critical next step to explore in detail the physics involved. The Antarctic Survey Telescopes(AST3),located at Dome A, Antarctica, is uniquely situated for rapid response time-domain astronomy with its continuous night-time coverage during the austral winter. We report optical observations of the GW source(GW 170817) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4993 using AST3. The data show a rapidly fading transient at around 1 day after the GW trigger, with the i-band magnitude declining from 17:23 ± 0:13 magnitude to 17:72 ± 0:09 magnitude in ~1:8 h. The brightness and time evolution of the optical transient associated with GW 170817 are broadly consistent with the predictions of models involving merging binary neutron stars. We infer from our data that the merging process ejected about ~10^(-2) solar mass of radioactive material at a speed of up to 30% the speed of light.

The bright star survey telescope for the planetary transit survey in Antarctica

Transiting extrasolar planets(exoplanets),especially those orbiting bright stars, are desired for study of the diversity of planetary compositions, internal structures and atmospheres beyond our solar system. Dome A at Antarctica is a promising site for planetary transit surveys,where the continuous darkness and the large clear-sky fraction in the winter months greatly enhance the detection efficiency. The Chinese Small Telescope ARray and the Antarctic Survey Telescopes are the first facilities that have been operated at Dome A for use in exoplanet surveys. To increase the sky coverage, a low-temperature-resistant wide-field robotic telescope, named the bright star survey telescope(BSST), has been developed to join the ongoing planetary transit survey in Antarctica. The BSST has an aperture size of 300 mm and is equipped with a largeframe 4K×4K CCD camera to receive starlight from a 3.°4×3.°4 field of view. The BSST was operated at Lijiang observatory in April and May 2015 for a test run.Photometric precision of 3.5 mmag was achieved for stars with V～11 mag using 75 s exposures. The transiting events of two Jupiter-size exoplanets, HAT-P-3b and HATP-12 b, were observed on May 10 and May 20, 2015,respectively.