The potential of FAST in detecting celestial hydroxyl masers and related science topics

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST) will make contributions to studies of Galactic and extragalactic masers. This telescope, with construction finished and now undergoing commissioning, has an innovative design that leads to the highest sensitivity of any single dish radio telescope in the world. FAST's potential for OH megamaser research is discussed, including the sky density of masers detectable in surveys. The scientific impact expected from FAST maser studies is also discussed.

Laboratory verification of the Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer(APXS) on the Chang'e-3 mission

In the Chang＇e-3 mission, the Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer（APXS） on the Yutu rover is used to analyze the chemical composition of lunar soil and rock samples. APXS data are only valid are only if the sensor head gets close to the target and integration time lasts long enough. Therefore, working distance and integration time are the dominant factors that affect APXS results. This study confirms the ability of APXS to detect elements and investigates the effects of distance and time on the measurements. We make use of a backup APXS instrument to determine the chemical composition of both powder and bulk samples under the conditions of different working distances and integration times. The results indicate that APXS can detect seven major elements, including Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti and Fe under the condition that the working distance is less than 30 mm and having an integration time of 30 min. The statistical deviation is smaller than 15%. This demonstrates the instrument＇s ability to detect major elements in the sample. Our measurements also indicate the increase of integration time could reduce the measurement error of peak area, which is useful for detecting the elements Mg, Al and Si. However, an increase in working distance can result in larger errors in measurement, which significantly affects the detection of the element Mg.

Reflectance conversion methods for the VIS/NIR imaging spectrometer aboard the Chang'E-3 lunar rover: based on ground validation experiment data

The second phase of the Chang＇E Program （also named Chang＇E-3） has the goal to land and perform in-situ detection on the lunar surface. A VIS/NIR imaging spectrometer （VNIS） will be carded on the Chang＇E-3 lunar rover to detect the distri-bution of lunar minerals and resources. VNIS is the first mission in history to perform in-situ spectral measurement on the surface of the Moon, the reflectance data of which are fundamental for interpretation of lunar composition, whose quality would greatly affect the accuracy of lunar element and mineral determination. Until now, in-situ de-tection by imaging spectrometers was only performed by rovers on Mars. We firstly review reflectance conversion methods for rovers on Mars （Viking landers, Pathfinder and Mars Exploration rovers, etc）. Secondly, we discuss whether these conversion methods used on Mars can be applied to lunar in-situ detection. We also applied data from a laboratory bidirectional reflectance distribution function （BRDF） using simu- lated lunar soil to test the availability of this method. Finally, we modify reflectance conversion methods used on Mars by considering differences between environments on the Moon and Mars and apply the methods to experimental data obtained from the ground validation of VNIS. These results were obtained by comparing reflectance data from the VNIS measured in the laboratory with those from a standard spectrometer obtained at the same time and under the same observing conditions. The shape and amplitude of the spectrum fits well, and the spectral uncertainty parameters for most samples are within 8%, except for the ilmenite sample which has a low albedo. In conclusion, our reflectance conversion method is suitable for lunar in-situ detection.