Site-testing is crucial for achieving the goal of scientific research and analysis of meteorological and optical observing conditions,one of the associated basic tasks.As one of three potential sites to host the 12-me...Site-testing is crucial for achieving the goal of scientific research and analysis of meteorological and optical observing conditions,one of the associated basic tasks.As one of three potential sites to host the 12-meter Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT),the Muztagh-ata site,which is located on the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang,in west China,began its site-testing task in the spring of 2017.In this paper,we firstly start with an introduction to the site and then present a statistical analysis of the ground-level meteorological properties such as air temperature,barometric pressure,relative humidity,and wind speed and direction,recorded by an automatic weather station with standard meteorological sensors for a two-year duration.We also show the monitoring results of sky brightness during this period.展开更多
The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter telescope which is proposed to be built in western China.The site selection for LOT in China began in 2016,and Ali was listed as one of the thre...The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter telescope which is proposed to be built in western China.The site selection for LOT in China began in 2016,and Ali was listed as one of the three candidate sites.Remote studies and local surveys have been carried out for more than 15 years in western China,and the results show that Ali is a promising site with comprehensive quality in terms of atmospheric and supporting conditions.An overview of the site testing campaign at the Ali site from 2016 to 2019 is presented.After the two years of data collection,the overall median seeing value is found to be 1.17 arcsec,the observable nights are 81.71%and the good observable nights are 71.76%.The weather conditions as follows,the median night temperature value is-5.18℃,the median night relative humidity value is 41.25%,the median night atmospheric pressure value is 540.92 hPa,the median night wind speed value is 7.41 m s-1 and the mainly wind direction is southwestern(SW).The median night sky background value is 22.07 magV.We also discuss the wind speed at different locations on-site,the possibility of light pollution and the effect of wind speed on differential image motion monitor(DIMM)seeing measurements.展开更多
We present seeing measurements of the Guoshoujing Telescope (formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope- LAMOST) site at Xinglong station during the period from 2007 March 12 to Apr...We present seeing measurements of the Guoshoujing Telescope (formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope- LAMOST) site at Xinglong station during the period from 2007 March 12 to April 25. The measurements were carried out with the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM), and a total of 9259 data sets was obtained. The median seeing was measured to be 1.1″, with 25% being better than 0.8″and 75% better than 1.5″. The experiment shows that the DIMM exposure time has significant effects on the results of seeing measurements. An SBIG Polaris seeing monitor, which had been planned to be installed on the LAMOST site for long-term monitoring, was also employed during the DIMM observations. The results show that the SBIG seeing monitor is easily affected by gusty wind, resulting in larger seeing values. Considering the previous seeing measurements at Xinglong station over the last 15 yr, we conclude that an acceptable seeing condition at Xinglong station is around 1″-2″.展开更多
The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter optical/infrared telescope which is proposed to be built in the western part of China in the next decade.Based on satellite remote sensing data,...The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter optical/infrared telescope which is proposed to be built in the western part of China in the next decade.Based on satellite remote sensing data,along with geographical,logistical and political considerations,three candidate sites were chosen for ground-based astronomical performance monitoring.These sites include:Ali in Tibet,Daocheng in Sichuan and Muztagh-ata in Xinjiang.Up until now,all three sites have continuously collected data for two years.In this paper,we will introduce this site testing campaign,and present its monitoring results obtained during the period between March 2017 and March 2019.展开更多
In this article,we present a detailed analysis of the statistical properties of seeing for the Muztaghata site which is a candidate site for hosting the future Chinese Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)project.The ...In this article,we present a detailed analysis of the statistical properties of seeing for the Muztaghata site which is a candidate site for hosting the future Chinese Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)project.The measurements were obtained with differential image motion monitors(DIMMs)from April2017 to November 2018 at different heights during different periods.The median seeings at 11 m and6 m are very close but significantly different from that on the ground.We mainly analyzed the seeing at11 m monthly and hourly,having found that the best season for observing was from late autumn to early winter and seeing tended to improve during the night only in autumn.The analysis of the dependence on temperature inversion,wind speed and direction also was made and the best meteorological conditions for seeing are given.展开更多
Based on previous site testing and satellite cloud data,Ali,Daocheng and Muztagh-ata have been selected as candidate sites for the Large Optical/Infrared Telescope(LOT) in China.We present the data collection,processi...Based on previous site testing and satellite cloud data,Ali,Daocheng and Muztagh-ata have been selected as candidate sites for the Large Optical/Infrared Telescope(LOT) in China.We present the data collection,processing,management and quality analysis for our site testing based on using similar hardware.We analyze meteorological data,seeing,background light,cloud and precipitable water vapor data from 2017 March 10 to 2019 March 10.We also investigated the relative usefulness of our all-sky camera data in comparison to that from the meteorological TERRA satellite data based on a night-by-night comparison of the correlation and consistency between them.We find a 6% discrepancy arising from a wide range of factors.展开更多
A large ground-based optical/infrared telescope is being planned for a world-class astronomical site in China.The cloud-free night percentage is the primary meteorological consideration for evaluating candidate sites....A large ground-based optical/infrared telescope is being planned for a world-class astronomical site in China.The cloud-free night percentage is the primary meteorological consideration for evaluating candidate sites.The data from GMS and NOAA satellites and the MODIS instrument were utilized in this research,covering the period from 1996 to 2015.Our data analysis benefits from overlapping results from different independent teams as well as a uniform analysis of selected sites using GMS+NOAA data.Although significant ground-based monitoring is needed to validate these findings,we identify three different geographical regions with a high percentage of cloud-free conditions(~83%on average),which is slightly lower than at Mauna Kea and Cerro Armazones(~85%on average)and were chosen for the large international projects TMT and ELT respectively.Our study finds evidence that cloud distributions and the seasonal changes affected by the prevailing westerly winds and summer monsoons reduce the cloud cover in areas influenced by the westerlies.This is consistent with the expectations from climate change models and is suggestive that most of the identified sites will have reduced cloud cover in the future.展开更多
The spectral observations and analysis for the W80 region are presented by using the data of Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey of Nebulae(MRS-N) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(...The spectral observations and analysis for the W80 region are presented by using the data of Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey of Nebulae(MRS-N) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST).A total of 2982 high-quality nebular spectra have been obtained in the 20 square degree field of view which covers the W80 complex,and the largest sample of spectral data has been established for the first time.The relative intensities,radial velocities(RVs),and full widths at half maximum(FWHMs) are measured with the high spectral resolution of LAMOST MRS-N,for Ha λ6563?,[NⅡ] λλ6548 A,6584 A,and [SⅡ] λλ6716A,6731 A emission lines.In the field of view of the whole W80 region,the strongest line emissions are found to be consistent with the bright nebulae NGC 7000,IC 5070,and LBN 391,and weak line emissions also exist in the Middle Region,where no bright nebulae are detected by the wide-band optical observations.The large-scale spectral observations of the W80 region reveal the systematic spatial variations of RVs and FWHMs,and several unique structural features.A "curved feature" to the east of NGC 7000,and a "jet feature" to the west of LBN 391 are detected to be showing larger RVs.A "wider FWHM region" is identified in the eastern part of NGC 7000.The variations of[S Ⅱ]/Ha ratios display a gradient from southwest to northeast in the NGC 7000 region,and manifest a ring shape around the "W80 bubble" ionized by an O-type star in L935.Further spectral and multi-band observations are guaranteed to investigate in detail the structural features.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11873081 and 11603065)the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘Site-testing is crucial for achieving the goal of scientific research and analysis of meteorological and optical observing conditions,one of the associated basic tasks.As one of three potential sites to host the 12-meter Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT),the Muztagh-ata site,which is located on the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang,in west China,began its site-testing task in the spring of 2017.In this paper,we firstly start with an introduction to the site and then present a statistical analysis of the ground-level meteorological properties such as air temperature,barometric pressure,relative humidity,and wind speed and direction,recorded by an automatic weather station with standard meteorological sensors for a two-year duration.We also show the monitoring results of sky brightness during this period.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Grant Nos.11873063 and 11373043)supported by the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China(MOF)and administrated by CASsupported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDB23020300)。
文摘The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter telescope which is proposed to be built in western China.The site selection for LOT in China began in 2016,and Ali was listed as one of the three candidate sites.Remote studies and local surveys have been carried out for more than 15 years in western China,and the results show that Ali is a promising site with comprehensive quality in terms of atmospheric and supporting conditions.An overview of the site testing campaign at the Ali site from 2016 to 2019 is presented.After the two years of data collection,the overall median seeing value is found to be 1.17 arcsec,the observable nights are 81.71%and the good observable nights are 71.76%.The weather conditions as follows,the median night temperature value is-5.18℃,the median night relative humidity value is 41.25%,the median night atmospheric pressure value is 540.92 hPa,the median night wind speed value is 7.41 m s-1 and the mainly wind direction is southwestern(SW).The median night sky background value is 22.07 magV.We also discuss the wind speed at different locations on-site,the possibility of light pollution and the effect of wind speed on differential image motion monitor(DIMM)seeing measurements.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.10903014 and10778709)supported by the Young Researcher Grant of National Astronomical Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘We present seeing measurements of the Guoshoujing Telescope (formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope- LAMOST) site at Xinglong station during the period from 2007 March 12 to April 25. The measurements were carried out with the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM), and a total of 9259 data sets was obtained. The median seeing was measured to be 1.1″, with 25% being better than 0.8″and 75% better than 1.5″. The experiment shows that the DIMM exposure time has significant effects on the results of seeing measurements. An SBIG Polaris seeing monitor, which had been planned to be installed on the LAMOST site for long-term monitoring, was also employed during the DIMM observations. The results show that the SBIG seeing monitor is easily affected by gusty wind, resulting in larger seeing values. Considering the previous seeing measurements at Xinglong station over the last 15 yr, we conclude that an acceptable seeing condition at Xinglong station is around 1″-2″.
基金supported by the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China(MOF)and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11873081)。
文摘The Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)is a ground-based 12 m diameter optical/infrared telescope which is proposed to be built in the western part of China in the next decade.Based on satellite remote sensing data,along with geographical,logistical and political considerations,three candidate sites were chosen for ground-based astronomical performance monitoring.These sites include:Ali in Tibet,Daocheng in Sichuan and Muztagh-ata in Xinjiang.Up until now,all three sites have continuously collected data for two years.In this paper,we will introduce this site testing campaign,and present its monitoring results obtained during the period between March 2017 and March 2019.
基金supported by theNational Nature Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11873081 and 11603065)the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China(MOF)and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘In this article,we present a detailed analysis of the statistical properties of seeing for the Muztaghata site which is a candidate site for hosting the future Chinese Large Optical/infrared Telescope(LOT)project.The measurements were obtained with differential image motion monitors(DIMMs)from April2017 to November 2018 at different heights during different periods.The median seeings at 11 m and6 m are very close but significantly different from that on the ground.We mainly analyzed the seeing at11 m monthly and hourly,having found that the best season for observing was from late autumn to early winter and seeing tended to improve during the night only in autumn.The analysis of the dependence on temperature inversion,wind speed and direction also was made and the best meteorological conditions for seeing are given.
基金partly supported by the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China (MOF) and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)supported by the National NaturalScience Foundation of China (Grant Nos.11573054,11703065,11603044 and 11873081)HRAJ acknowledges support from a CAS PIFI and UK STFC grant ST/R006598/1。
文摘Based on previous site testing and satellite cloud data,Ali,Daocheng and Muztagh-ata have been selected as candidate sites for the Large Optical/Infrared Telescope(LOT) in China.We present the data collection,processing,management and quality analysis for our site testing based on using similar hardware.We analyze meteorological data,seeing,background light,cloud and precipitable water vapor data from 2017 March 10 to 2019 March 10.We also investigated the relative usefulness of our all-sky camera data in comparison to that from the meteorological TERRA satellite data based on a night-by-night comparison of the correlation and consistency between them.We find a 6% discrepancy arising from a wide range of factors.
基金partly supported by the Operation,Maintenance and Upgrading Fund for Astronomical Telescopes and Facility Instruments,budgeted from the Ministry of Finance of China(MOF)and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11573054,11703065,11603044 and 11873081)+1 种基金support from a CAS PIFIUK STFC grant ST/R006598/1。
文摘A large ground-based optical/infrared telescope is being planned for a world-class astronomical site in China.The cloud-free night percentage is the primary meteorological consideration for evaluating candidate sites.The data from GMS and NOAA satellites and the MODIS instrument were utilized in this research,covering the period from 1996 to 2015.Our data analysis benefits from overlapping results from different independent teams as well as a uniform analysis of selected sites using GMS+NOAA data.Although significant ground-based monitoring is needed to validate these findings,we identify three different geographical regions with a high percentage of cloud-free conditions(~83%on average),which is slightly lower than at Mauna Kea and Cerro Armazones(~85%on average)and were chosen for the large international projects TMT and ELT respectively.Our study finds evidence that cloud distributions and the seasonal changes affected by the prevailing westerly winds and summer monsoons reduce the cloud cover in areas influenced by the westerlies.This is consistent with the expectations from climate change models and is suggestive that most of the identified sites will have reduced cloud cover in the future.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12073051, 11973004, 12090040, 12090041, 11733006, 11403061, 11903048, U1631131, 11973060, 12090044, 12073039, 11633009, and U1531118)the Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences+2 种基金the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDY-SSW- SLH007)supports from the Science and Technology Development Fund, Macao SAR (file No. 0007/ 2019/A)Faculty Research Grants of the Macao University of Science and Technology (No. FRG- 19-004-SSI)。
文摘The spectral observations and analysis for the W80 region are presented by using the data of Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey of Nebulae(MRS-N) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST).A total of 2982 high-quality nebular spectra have been obtained in the 20 square degree field of view which covers the W80 complex,and the largest sample of spectral data has been established for the first time.The relative intensities,radial velocities(RVs),and full widths at half maximum(FWHMs) are measured with the high spectral resolution of LAMOST MRS-N,for Ha λ6563?,[NⅡ] λλ6548 A,6584 A,and [SⅡ] λλ6716A,6731 A emission lines.In the field of view of the whole W80 region,the strongest line emissions are found to be consistent with the bright nebulae NGC 7000,IC 5070,and LBN 391,and weak line emissions also exist in the Middle Region,where no bright nebulae are detected by the wide-band optical observations.The large-scale spectral observations of the W80 region reveal the systematic spatial variations of RVs and FWHMs,and several unique structural features.A "curved feature" to the east of NGC 7000,and a "jet feature" to the west of LBN 391 are detected to be showing larger RVs.A "wider FWHM region" is identified in the eastern part of NGC 7000.The variations of[S Ⅱ]/Ha ratios display a gradient from southwest to northeast in the NGC 7000 region,and manifest a ring shape around the "W80 bubble" ionized by an O-type star in L935.Further spectral and multi-band observations are guaranteed to investigate in detail the structural features.