Design and Cryogenic Performance of a Hexapod Platform for a Large Ground-based Wide Field Survey Telescope

The thermal gradient is an important factor that causes degradation to the image quality of telescopes. In order to ensure the accurate alignment of the primary focus unit and the primary mirror, the hexapod platform(as a corrector) is investigated in this paper. First, a ground-based telescope with 2.5 m aperture and 3.5 deg field of view is described. The telescope is under construction, and it is expected to be finished in 2023. Second, the hexapod platform with flexure hinges utilized to adjust the primary focus unit is proposed, which is applied as a corrector.Then, the inverse kinematics of the platform is established and an open-loop control system is built based on it.Finally, the cryogenic performance test for the hexapod platform is performed. The experimental results show that the resolution and repeatability of the translation for the hexapod platform can be achieved at the micrometer level.The resolution and repeatability of the rotation can be achieved at the arc-second level. Therefore, the cryogenic performance of the hexapod platform can meet the optical imaging requirements of the wide-field ground-based telescope. The kinematic analysis and cryogenic performance tests in the paper provide a technical reference for the precise alignment of the primary focus unit and the primary mirror, which can improve the imaging quality of the telescope.

Basic Survey Scheduling for the Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST)

Aiming at improving the survey efficiency of the Wide Field Survey Telescope, we have developed a basic scheduling strategy that takes into account the telescope characteristics, observing conditions, and weather conditions at the Lenghu site. The sky area is divided into rectangular regions, referred to as “tiles,” with a size of2°. 577 × 2°. 634 slightly smaller than the focal area of the mosaic CCDs. These tiles are continuously filled in annulars parallel to the equator. The brightness of the sky background, which varies with the moon phase and distance from the moon, plays a significant role in determining the accessible survey fields. Approximately 50connected tiles are grouped into one block for observation. To optimize the survey schedule, we perform simulations by taking into account the length of exposures, data readout, telescope slewing, and all relevant observing conditions. We utilize the Greedy Algorithm for scheduling optimization. Additionally, we propose a dedicated dithering pattern to cover the gaps between CCDs and the four corners of the mosaic CCD array, which are located outside of the 3° field of view. This dithering pattern helps to achieve relatively uniform exposure maps for the final survey outputs.

Disturbance Observer-based Pointing Control of Leighton Chajnantor Telescope

Leighton Chajnantor Telescope(LCT), i.e., the former Caltech Submillimeter Observatory telescope, will be refurbished at the new site in Chajnantor Plateau, Chile in 2023. The environment of LCT will change significantly after its relocation, and the telescope will be exposed to large wind disturbances directly because its enclosure will be completely open during observation. The wind disturbance is expected to be a challenge for LCT's pointing control since the existing control method cannot reject this disturbance very well. Therefore, it is very necessary to develop a new pointing control method with good capability of disturbance rejection. In this research, a disturbance observer—based composite position controller(DOB-CPC) is designed, in which an H∞feedback controller is employed to compress the disturbance, and a feedforward linear quadratic regulator is employed to compensate the disturbance precisely based on the estimated disturbance signal. Moreover, a controller switching policy is adopted, which applies the proportional controller to the transient process to achieve a quick response and applies the DOB-CPC to the steady state to achieve a small position error. Numerical experiments are conducted to verify the good performance of the proposed pointing controller(i.e., DOB-CPC) for rejecting the disturbance acting on LCT.

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.

Are James Webb Space Telescope Observations Consistent with Warm Dark Matter?

We compare observed with predicted distributions of galaxy stellar masses M* and galaxy rest-frame ultra-violet luminosities per unit bandwidth LUV, in the redshift range z=2 to 13. The comparison is presented as a function of the comoving warm dark matter free-streaming cut-off wavenumber kfs. For this comparison the theory is a minimal extension of the Press-Schechter formalism with only two parameters: the star formation efficiency, and a proportionality factor between the star formation rate per galaxy and LUV. These two parameters are fixed to their values obtained prior to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data. The purpose of this comparison is to identify if, and where, detailed astrophysical evolution is needed to account for the new JWST observations.

Terrain-influenced wind flow of the Qitai radio telescope site

The wind environment of a site is one of the important factors affecting the observation performance of large aperture and high-performance radio telescopes.Exploring the relationship between the effects of different terrains on wind flow is important to optimize the wind environment of the site.The terrain of the Qitai radio telescope(QTT)site located in east Tianshan Mountains at an elevation of about 1800 m was used to study the wind flow in the adjacent zone of antenna based on numerical simulation.The area from 600m south to 600m north of the antenna is defined as the antenna adjacent zone,and three groups of boundaries with different terrains are set up upstream and downstream,respectively.Since the zone where the antenna is located is a slope terrain,in order to verify the influence of terrain on the wind flow and to clarify the relationship between the influence of boundary terrain on the wind flow,a control group of horizontal terrain is constructed.The simulation results show that the wind flow is mainly influenced by the terrain.The highest elevation of the upstream and downstream boundary terrains affects the basic wind speed.The upstream boundary terrain has a greater impact on wind flow than the downstream boundary terrain.In addition,the wind speed profile index obtained by numerical simulation is smaller than the actual index for the wind from south.Therefore,the wind speed at the upper level(about 100 m)obtained by inversion based on the measured wind speed at the bottom(about 10 m)is also smaller than the actual wind speed.

FAST:The Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope

In the 90 years since its inception,radio astronomy has become the setting of almost all major astronomical discoveries and a hothouse for Nobel Prizes in Physics.As a result,countries all over the world have actively explored new engineering concepts to build large-aperture radio telescopes.Limited by their self-weight and wind load,100 m radio telescopes are regarded as the maximum limit of traditional radio telescopes.This perspective allowed the Arecibo 305 m telescope—built by Cornell University in the United States in 1963—to dominate the field for more than half a century.During this period,scholars have been exploring how to further expand their horizons in order to make a breakthrough in the problem of the universe.

Two annular CsI(Tl) detector arrays for the charged particle telescopes

In this study,we constructed two annular detector arrays comprising 24 wedge-shaped CsI(Tl) crystals,and tested them using anαsource and radioactive beams of ^(14-16) Con a CD_2 target.We compared the properties of a CsI(Tl) crystal encapsulated with various reflectors,revealing that using the 80-μm-thick ESR film to pack the CsI(Tl) crystal yielded the largest light output with the smallest non-uniformity in light output (ΔLO).For the 24 CsI(Tl) detectors with the 80-μm-thick ESR films,the average energy resolution improved as the average light output increased;however,it deteriorated as theΔLO value increased.To form two annular Si-CsI(Tl) telescopes for identifying the light-charged particles,theΔLO value and energy resolution of each CsI(Tl) detector were maintained under 20%and 7.7%,respectively.These telescopes were tested for the first time in a direct nuclear reaction experiment using ^(14-16) C+d.The results demonstrated that the Z=1 and Z=2 charged particles were adequately discriminated by the telescopes using the standardΔE-E method.

Back Frame Section Size Optimization of Large Aperture Telescope

The back frame structure of a large radio telescope is an important component supporting the reflecting surface,which is directly related to the surface precision.Its optimal design is of key significance for ensuring the surface precision and reducing structural weight.Two methods are constructed to optimize the cross-section size of the telescope back frame in this paper,the criterion method and the first-order optimization method.The criterion method is based on the Lagrangian multiplier method and Kuhn-Tucker condition.This method first establishes the mathematical model by taking the inner and outer radiuses of the back frame beams as the design variables,the structural weight as the constraint condition,and the structural compliance as the objective function,then derives the optimization criterion.The first-order optimization method takes the inner and outer radiuses of the beams as the design variables,the back frame RMS as the objective function,and the structural weight as the constraint condition.Comparison of RMS,structural stress uniformity and optimization efficiency shows that both algorithms can effectively reduce structural deformation and improve RMS,but the criterion method has relatively better result than the first-order method.

Direct Ion Beam Figuring Process and Rotational Measurement Method for Ultra-smooth Aspherical Surfaces of a 46.5 nm Telescope

This paper describes a fabrication process for the hyperboloidal concave mirror of a 46.5 nm telescope. The180 mm aperture hyperboloidal concave mirror and 70 mm aperture compensator are machined directly from chemical mechanical polishing of a spherical surface to a high-accuracy aspherical surface by ion beam figuring.The aspherical measurement method is the Dall null test. To minimize system errors in the measurement process,the rotational measurement method with six rotations is used in the null test. The results of the analysis for the ME(first solve the machined surface profile, then solve the system errors) and EM(first solve the system errors, then solve the machined surface profile) methods of calculation in the measurement are given. The ME method is a more accurate rotational test method, and the six rotations are appropriate for rotational measurements. After the figuring process, the hyperboloidal concave mirror surface profile reached 8.27 nm rms and the compensator surface profile is approximately 4 nm rms. The roughness of the hyperboloidal concave mirror is smooth to0.160 nm rms.

Distributed Control Software for the Active Surface System of Tian-ma Radio Telescope

The Tian-ma Radio Telescope(TMRT) applies an Active Surface System(ASFS), which corrects for large-scale deformations due to gravity and thermal on the primary reflector. The centralized and automated management of the ASFS using software has become a challenge, for which we have developed the TMRT Active Surface System Control Software(TASCS). This paper describes the design and implementation of TASCS for device control,status monitoring, human-computer interaction, and data management functionalities. TASCS adopts the opensource Tango Controls framework and distributes middleware technology to realize real-time automated adjustment of the primary reflector through remote centralized control of a large number of actuators. At present, it has been successfully deployed on the TMRT and has played an important role in Event Horizon Telescope observations.

Advances in optical engineering for future telescopes

Significant optical engineering advances at the University of Arizona are being made for design, fabrication, and construction of next generation astronomical telescopes. This summary review paper focuses on the technological advances in three key areas. First is the optical fabrication technique used for constructing next-generation telescope mirrors. Advances in ground-based telescope control and instrumentation comprise the second area of development. This includes active alignment of the laser truss-based Large Binocular Telescope(LBT) prime focus camera, the new MOBIUS modular cross-dispersion spectroscopy unit used at the prime focal plane of the LBT, and topological pupil segment optimization. Lastly, future space telescope concepts and enabling technologies are discussed. Among these, the Nautilus space observatory requires challenging alignment of segmented multi-order diffractive elements. The OASIS terahertz space telescope presents unique challenges for characterizing the inflatable primary mirror, and the Hyperion space telescope pushes the limits of high spectral resolution, far-UV spectroscopy. The Coronagraphic Debris and Exoplanet Exploring Pioneer(CDEEP) is a Small Satellite(Small Sat) mission concept for high-contrast imaging of circumstellar disks and exoplanets using vector vortex coronagraph. These advances in optical engineering technologies will help mankind to probe, explore, and understand the scientific beauty of our universe.

Lijiang 2.4-meter Telescope and its instruments

The Lijiang 2.4-meter Telescope(LJT), the largest common-purpose optical telescope in China,has been available to the worldwide astronomical community since 2008. It is located at the Gaomeigu site,Lijiang Observatory(LJO), in the southwest of China. The site has very good observational conditions.During its 10-year operation, several instruments have been equipped on the LJT. Astronomers can perform both photometric and spectral observations. The main scientific goals of LJT include recording photometric and spectral evolution of supernovae, reverberation mapping of active galactic nuclei, investigating the physical properties of binary stars and near-earth objects(comets and asteroids), and identification of exoplanets and all kinds of transients. Until now, the masses of 41 high accretion rate black holes have been measured, and more than 168 supernovae have been identified by the LJT. More than 190 papers related to the LJT have been published. In this paper, the general observation conditions of the Gaomeigu site is introduced at first. Then, the structure of the LJT is described in detail, including the optical, mechanical, motion and control system. The specification of all the instruments and some detailed parameters of the YFOSC is also presented. Finally, some important scientific results and future expectations are summarized.

Full-disk synoptic observations of the chromosphere using Hα telescope at the Kodaikanal Observatory

This paper reports on the installation and observations of a new solar telescope installed on 2014 October 7 at the Kodaikanal Observatory. The telescope is a refractive type equipped with a tunable Lyot Hα filter. A CCD camera with size 2k×2k acquires images of the Sun and has a pixel size of 1.21′′pixel-1and a full field-of-view of 41′. The telescope is equipped with a guiding system which keeps the image of the Sun within a few pixels throughout the observations. The FWHM of the Lyot filter is 0.4 A? and the filter is motorized, capable of scanning the Hα line profile at a smaller step size of 0.01 A?. Partial-disk imaging covering about 10′is also possible with the help of a relay lens kept in front of the CCD camera. In this paper, we report the detailed specifications of the telescope, filter unit, the installation, observations and the procedures we have followed to calibrate and align the data. We also present preliminary results with this new full-disk telescope.

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST, also called the Guo Shou Jing Telescope) is a special reflecting Schmidt telescope. LAMOST's special design allows both a large aperture (effective aperture of 3.6 m-4.9 m) and a wide field of view (FOV) (5°). It has an innovative active reflecting Schmidt configuration which continuously changes the mirror's surface that adjusts during the observation process and combines thin deformable mirror active optics with segmented active optics. Its primary mirror (6.67m×6.05 m) and active Schmidt mirror (5.74m×4.40 m) are both segmented, and composed of 37 and 24 hexagonal sub-mirrors respectively. By using a parallel controllable fiber positioning technique, the focal surface of 1.75 m in diameter can accommodate 4000 optical fibers. Also, LAMOST has 16 spectrographs with 32 CCD cameras. LAMOST will be the telescope with the highest rate of spectral acquisition. As a national large scientific project, the LAMOST project was formally proposed in 1996, and approved by the Chinese government in 1997. The construction started in 2001, was completed in 2008 and passed the official acceptance in June 2009. The LAMOST pilot survey was started in October 2011 and the spectroscopic survey will launch in September 2012. Up to now, LAMOST has released more than 480 000 spectra of objects. LAMOST will make an important contribution to the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe, structure and evolution of the Galaxy, and cross-identification of multiwaveband properties in celestial objects.

Numerical simulation and optimized design of cased telescoped ammunition interior ballistic

In order to achieve the optimized design of a cased telescoped ammunition(CTA) interior ballistic design,a genetic algorithm was introduced into the optimal design of CTA interior ballistics with coupling the CTA interior ballistic model. Aiming at the interior ballistic characteristics of a CTA gun, the goal of CTA interior ballistic design is to obtain a projectile velocity as large as possible. The optimal design of CTA interior ballistic is carried out using a genetic algorithm by setting peak pressure, changing the chamber volume and gun powder charge density. A numerical simulation of interior ballistics based on a 35 mm CTA firing experimental scheme was conducted and then the genetic algorithm was used for numerical optimization. The projectile muzzle velocity of the optimized scheme is increased from 1168 m/s for the initial experimental scheme to 1182 m/s. Then four optimization schemes were obtained with several independent optimization processes. The schemes were compared with each other and the difference between these schemes is small. The peak pressure and muzzle velocity of these schemes are almost the same. The result shows that the genetic algorithm is effective in the optimal design of the CTA interior ballistics. This work will be lay the foundation for further CTA interior ballistic design.

RECENT PROGRESS IN THE PROJECT OF SPACE SOLAR TELESCOPE

In this paper, we introduce some process of the project of Space Solar Telescope in recent two years. The astronomic requirements have been further identified,the mission and operation requirements have been assessed, and some critical technologies have been performed. According to the time schedule, it is esti mated that the engineering model of the spacecraft would be completed and put into test operation in the end of 2004 and the spacecraft would be launched in about 2007.

Progress on Space Solar Telescope in 2004 - 2006

The progress on Chinese Space Solar Telescope (SST) in 2004-2006 is introduced. The scientific objectives are further clarified and the ground operation system has been planned. The 7 key technical problems of SST satellite platform and payloads have been tackled, which lay solid scientific and technological foundations for engineering prototype phase of the SST project. At present the SST project undergoes evaluation by CNSA and CAS so as to enter the engineering prototype phase of the SST project if it is finally approved.

The Lyman-alpha Solar Telescope(LST) for the ASO-S mission——Ⅱ. design of LST

As one of the three payloads for the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory(ASO-S)mission,the Lyman-alpha(Lyα)Solar Telescope(LST)is composed of three instruments:a Solar Corona Imager(SCI),a LyαSolar Disk Imager(SDI)and a full-disk White-light Solar Telescope(WST).When working in-orbit,LST will simultaneously perform high-resolution imaging observations of all regions from the solar disk to the inner corona up to 2.5 R⊙(R⊙stands for the mean solar radius)with a spatial resolution of 4.8′′and 1.2′′for coronal and disk observations,respectively,and a temporal resolution of 30–120 s and 1–120 s for coronal and disk observations,respectively.The maximum exposure time can be up to20 s due to precise pointing and image stabilization function.Among the three telescopes of LST,SCI is a dual-waveband coronagraph simultaneously and independently observing the inner corona in the HI Lyα(121.6±10 nm)line and white light(WL)(700±40 nm)wavebands by using a narrowband Lyαbeam splitter and has a field of view(FOV)from 1.1 to 2.5 R⊙.The stray-light suppression level can attain<10^-6 B⊙(B⊙is the mean brightness of the solar disk)at 1.1 R⊙and≤5×10^-8 B⊙at 2.5 R⊙.SDI and WST are solar disk imagers working in the Lyαline and 360.0 nm wavebands,respectively,which adopt an off-axis two-mirror reflective structure with an FOV up to 1.2 R⊙,covering the inner coronal edge area and relating to coronal imaging.We present the up-to-date design for the LST payload.

PROGRESS ON SPACE SOLAR TELESCOPE

The research of Space Solar Telescope is consisted of three aspects, the BalloonBorne and Ground-Mobile Solar Telescope which is a preparing project for the Space Solar Telescope, Space Solar Telescope and researches of solar magnetic field and velocity field. Thess are separately introduced in this paper.