The Tsinghua-NAOC （National Astronomical Observatories of China） Telescope （hereafter, TNT） is an 80-cm Cassegrain reflecting telescope located at the Xinglong Observatory of NAOC, with the main scientific goals o...The Tsinghua-NAOC （National Astronomical Observatories of China） Telescope （hereafter, TNT） is an 80-cm Cassegrain reflecting telescope located at the Xinglong Observatory of NAOC, with the main scientific goals of monitoring various transients in the universe such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, novae, variable stars, and active galactic nuclei. We present a systematic test and analysis of the photometric performance of this telescope. Based on the calibration observations taken on 12 pho- tometric nights, spanning the period from 2004 to 2012, we derived an accurate trans- formation equation between the instrumental ubvri magnitudes and standard Johnson UBV and Cousins RI magnitudes. In particular, the color terms and the extinction coefficients of different passbands are well determined. With these data, we also ob- tained the limiting magnitudes and the photometric precision of TNT. It is worthwhile to point out that the sky background at the Xinglong Observatory became gradually worse over the period from 2005 to 2012 （e.g., -21.4 mag vs. ,-20.1 mag in the V band）.展开更多
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 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
A gamma-ray burst （GRB） optical photometric follow-up system at the Xinglong Observatory of National Astronomical Observatories of China （NAOC） has been constructed. It uses the 0.8-m Tsinghua-NAOC Telescope （TNT...A gamma-ray burst （GRB） optical photometric follow-up system at the Xinglong Observatory of National Astronomical Observatories of China （NAOC） has been constructed. It uses the 0.8-m Tsinghua-NAOC Telescope （TNT） and the 1-m EST telescope, and can au- tomatically respond to GRB Coordinates Network （GCN） alerts. Both telescopes slew relatively fast, being able to point to a new target field within - 1 min upon a request. Whenever available, the 2.16-m NAOC telescope is also used. In 2006 the system responded to 15 GRBs and detected seven early afterglows. In 2007 six GRBs have been detected among 18 follow- up observations. TNT observations of the second most distant GRB 060927 （z = 5.5） are shown, which started as early as 91 s after the GRB trigger. The afterglow was detected in the combined image of the first 19 × 20 s unfiltered exposures. This GRB follow-up system has joined the East-Asia GRB Follow-up Observation Network （EAFON）.展开更多
We present a catalog including 11 204 spectra of 10436 early-type emission-line stars from LAMOST DR2, among which 9752 early-type emission-line spectra are newly discovered. For these early- type emissionqine stars, ...We present a catalog including 11 204 spectra of 10436 early-type emission-line stars from LAMOST DR2, among which 9752 early-type emission-line spectra are newly discovered. For these early- type emissionqine stars, we discuss the morphological and physical properties of their low-resolution spectra. In this spectral sample, the Hα emission profiles display a wide variety of shapes. Based on the Hα line profiles, these spectra are categorized into five distinct classes： single-peak emission, single-peak emission in absorption, double-peak emission, double-peak emission in absorption, and P-Cygni profiles. To better understand what causes the Hc~ line profiles, we divide these objects into four types from the perspective of physical classification, which include classical Be stars, Herbig Ae/Be stars, close binaries and spectra contaminated by H n regions. The majority of Herbig Ae/Be stars and classical Be stars are identified and separated using a （H-K, K-W1） color-color diagram. We also discuss 31 binary systems that are listed in the SIMBAD on-line catalog and identify 3600 spectra contaminated by HⅡ regions after cross-matching with positions in the Dubout-Crillon catalog. A statistical analysis of line profiles versus classifications is then conducted in order to understand the distribution of Hc~ profiles for each type in our sample. Finally, we also provide a table of 172 spectra with Fen emission lines and roughly calculate stellar wind velocities for seven spectra with P-Cygni profiles.展开更多
We describe the photometric calibration of the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope（LUT）, the first robotic astronomical telescope working on the lunar surface, for its first six months of operation on the lunar surfac...We describe the photometric calibration of the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope（LUT）, the first robotic astronomical telescope working on the lunar surface, for its first six months of operation on the lunar surface. Two spectral datasets（set A and B） from near-ultraviolet（NUV） to the optical band were constructed with 44 International Ultraviolet Explorer（IUE） standards, because of the LUT＇s relatively wide wavelength coverage. Set A was obtained by extrapolating the IUE NUV spectra（λ 〈 3200 ） to the optical band based upon the theoretical spectra of stellar atmosphere models. Set B was composed of theoretical spectra from 2000 to 8000 extracted from the same model grid. In total, seven standards have been observed in15 observational runs until May 2014. The calibration results show that the photometric performance of LUT is highly stable in its first six months of operation. The magnitude zero points obtained from the two spectral datasets are also consistent with each other, i.e., zp = 17.54 ± 0.09 mag（set A） and zp = 17.52 ± 0.07 mag（set B）.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
The Chinese Small Telescope Array （CSTAR） is the first Chinese astronomical instrument on the Antarctic ice cap. The low temperature and low pressure testing of the data acquisition system was carried out in a labor...The Chinese Small Telescope Array （CSTAR） is the first Chinese astronomical instrument on the Antarctic ice cap. The low temperature and low pressure testing of the data acquisition system was carried out in a laboratory refrigerator and on the 4500 m Pamirs high plateau, respectively. The results from the final four nights of test observations demonstrated that CSTAR was ready for operation at Dome A, Antarctica. In this paper, we present a description of CSTAR and the performance derived from the test observations.展开更多
We present the optical to mid-infrared SEDs of 11 debris disk candidates from Spitzer SWIRE fields. All the candidates are selected from SWIRE 24 μm sources matched with both the SDSS star catalog and the 2MASS point...We present the optical to mid-infrared SEDs of 11 debris disk candidates from Spitzer SWIRE fields. All the candidates are selected from SWIRE 24 μm sources matched with both the SDSS star catalog and the 2MASS point source catalog. They show an excess in the mid-infrared at 24 μm （Ks-[24]vega 〉 0.44）, indicating the presence of a circumstellar dust disk. The observed optical spectra show that they are all late-type main-sequence stars covering the spectral types of FGKM. Their fractional luminosities are well above 5× 10-5, even up to the high fractional luminosity of 1×10-3. The high galactic latitudes of SWIRE fields indicate that most of these candidates could belong to the oldest stars in the thick disk. Our results indicate that high fractional luminosity debris disks could exist in old solar-like star systems, though they are still quite rare. Their discovery at high galactic latitudes also provides an exellent opportunity for further study of the properties and evolution of debris disks in regions of the Galaxy with low densities of ISM, called ISM poor environments.展开更多
We study the ages of a large sample （1802） of nearly face-on disk low surface brightness galaxies （LSBGs） using the evolutionary population synthesis （EPS） model PEGASE with an exponentially decreasing star form...We study the ages of a large sample （1802） of nearly face-on disk low surface brightness galaxies （LSBGs） using the evolutionary population synthesis （EPS） model PEGASE with an exponentially decreasing star formation rate to fit their mul- tiwavelength spectral energy distributions （SEDs） from far-ultraviolet （FUV） to nearinfrared （NIR）. The derived ages of LSBGs are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample no matter if constant or varying dust extinction is adopted, which are similar to most of the previous studies on smaller samples. This means that these LSBGs formed the majority of their stars quite recently. However, a small part of the sample （~2%-3%） has larger ages of 5-8 Gyr, meaning their major star forming process may have occurred earlier. At the same time, a large sample （5886） of high surface brightness galaxies （HSBGs） are selected and studied using the same method for comparisons. The de- rived ages are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample （97%） as well. These results probably mean that these LSBGs have not much different star formation histories from their HSBGs counterparts. However, we should notice that the HSBGs are generally about 0.2 Gyr younger, which could mean that the HSBGs may have undergone more recent star forming activities than the LSBGs.展开更多
A large telescope＇s adaptive optics （AO） system requires one or more bright artificial laser guide stars to improve its sky coverage. The recent advent of a high power sodium laser is perfect for such application. ...A large telescope＇s adaptive optics （AO） system requires one or more bright artificial laser guide stars to improve its sky coverage. The recent advent of a high power sodium laser is perfect for such application. However, besides the output power, other parameters of the laser also have a significant impact on the brightness of the generated sodium laser guide star, mostly in non-linear relationships. When tuning and optimizing these parameters it is necessary to tune based on a laser guide star generation performance metric. Although return photon fluxis widely used, variability of the atmosphere and sodium layer makes it difficult to compare results from different sites or even within a short time period for the same site. A new metric, coupling efficiency, is adopted in our field tests. In this paper, we will introduce our method for measuring the coupling efficiency of a 20W class pulse sodium laser for AO application during field tests that were conducted during 2013-2015.展开更多
Vertical profile of turbulence strength(Cn2)is one of the most important attributes for evaluating a site’s astronomical performances.Although seeing is commonly used for describing turbulence strength,it can only re...Vertical profile of turbulence strength(Cn2)is one of the most important attributes for evaluating a site’s astronomical performances.Although seeing is commonly used for describing turbulence strength,it can only represent the integral of all layers of the turbulence above the observer.Other techniques which can be applied to produce Cn2,such as DIMM-MASS,SCIDAR,etc.,all rely on rather complex systems to do the measurements.In this paper,we present an idea to evaluate the relative strength of turbulence with entropies of short exposure images taken at different conjugated heights of the turbulence.Initial experimental results are also presented in the paper.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 11073013 and 11178003)the Foundation of Tsinghua University (Grant No. 2011Z02170)the Major State Basic Research Development Program (Grant No.2009CB824800)
文摘The Tsinghua-NAOC （National Astronomical Observatories of China） Telescope （hereafter, TNT） is an 80-cm Cassegrain reflecting telescope located at the Xinglong Observatory of NAOC, with the main scientific goals of monitoring various transients in the universe such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, novae, variable stars, and active galactic nuclei. We present a systematic test and analysis of the photometric performance of this telescope. Based on the calibration observations taken on 12 pho- tometric nights, spanning the period from 2004 to 2012, we derived an accurate trans- formation equation between the instrumental ubvri magnitudes and standard Johnson UBV and Cousins RI magnitudes. In particular, the color terms and the extinction coefficients of different passbands are well determined. With these data, we also ob- tained the limiting magnitudes and the photometric precision of TNT. It is worthwhile to point out that the sky background at the Xinglong Observatory became gradually worse over the period from 2005 to 2012 （e.g., -21.4 mag vs. ,-20.1 mag in the V band）.
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 the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.10673014)
文摘A gamma-ray burst （GRB） optical photometric follow-up system at the Xinglong Observatory of National Astronomical Observatories of China （NAOC） has been constructed. It uses the 0.8-m Tsinghua-NAOC Telescope （TNT） and the 1-m EST telescope, and can au- tomatically respond to GRB Coordinates Network （GCN） alerts. Both telescopes slew relatively fast, being able to point to a new target field within - 1 min upon a request. Whenever available, the 2.16-m NAOC telescope is also used. In 2006 the system responded to 15 GRBs and detected seven early afterglows. In 2007 six GRBs have been detected among 18 follow- up observations. TNT observations of the second most distant GRB 060927 （z = 5.5） are shown, which started as early as 91 s after the GRB trigger. The afterglow was detected in the combined image of the first 19 × 20 s unfiltered exposures. This GRB follow-up system has joined the East-Asia GRB Follow-up Observation Network （EAFON）.
基金supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014CB845700)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11390371 and 11233004)The Guo Shou Jing Telescope (the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, LAMOST) is a National Major Scientific Project built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Funding for the project has been provided by the National Development and Reform Commission
文摘We present a catalog including 11 204 spectra of 10436 early-type emission-line stars from LAMOST DR2, among which 9752 early-type emission-line spectra are newly discovered. For these early- type emissionqine stars, we discuss the morphological and physical properties of their low-resolution spectra. In this spectral sample, the Hα emission profiles display a wide variety of shapes. Based on the Hα line profiles, these spectra are categorized into five distinct classes： single-peak emission, single-peak emission in absorption, double-peak emission, double-peak emission in absorption, and P-Cygni profiles. To better understand what causes the Hc~ line profiles, we divide these objects into four types from the perspective of physical classification, which include classical Be stars, Herbig Ae/Be stars, close binaries and spectra contaminated by H n regions. The majority of Herbig Ae/Be stars and classical Be stars are identified and separated using a （H-K, K-W1） color-color diagram. We also discuss 31 binary systems that are listed in the SIMBAD on-line catalog and identify 3600 spectra contaminated by HⅡ regions after cross-matching with positions in the Dubout-Crillon catalog. A statistical analysis of line profiles versus classifications is then conducted in order to understand the distribution of Hc~ profiles for each type in our sample. Finally, we also provide a table of 172 spectra with Fen emission lines and roughly calculate stellar wind velocities for seven spectra with P-Cygni profiles.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘We describe the photometric calibration of the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope（LUT）, the first robotic astronomical telescope working on the lunar surface, for its first six months of operation on the lunar surface. Two spectral datasets（set A and B） from near-ultraviolet（NUV） to the optical band were constructed with 44 International Ultraviolet Explorer（IUE） standards, because of the LUT＇s relatively wide wavelength coverage. Set A was obtained by extrapolating the IUE NUV spectra（λ 〈 3200 ） to the optical band based upon the theoretical spectra of stellar atmosphere models. Set B was composed of theoretical spectra from 2000 to 8000 extracted from the same model grid. In total, seven standards have been observed in15 observational runs until May 2014. The calibration results show that the photometric performance of LUT is highly stable in its first six months of operation. The magnitude zero points obtained from the two spectral datasets are also consistent with each other, i.e., zp = 17.54 ± 0.09 mag（set A） and zp = 17.52 ± 0.07 mag（set B）.
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supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.10873016,10633020,10603006 and 10803007)by National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program,No.2007CB815403)
文摘The Chinese Small Telescope Array （CSTAR） is the first Chinese astronomical instrument on the Antarctic ice cap. The low temperature and low pressure testing of the data acquisition system was carried out in a laboratory refrigerator and on the 4500 m Pamirs high plateau, respectively. The results from the final four nights of test observations demonstrated that CSTAR was ready for operation at Dome A, Antarctica. In this paper, we present a description of CSTAR and the performance derived from the test observations.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11173030, 11078017, 10833006, 10978014 and 10773014)partly supported by the China Ministry of Science and Technology under the State Key Development Program for Basic Research (2007CB815400 and 2012CB821800)S. Wolf was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Emmy Noether grant WO 857/2
文摘We present the optical to mid-infrared SEDs of 11 debris disk candidates from Spitzer SWIRE fields. All the candidates are selected from SWIRE 24 μm sources matched with both the SDSS star catalog and the 2MASS point source catalog. They show an excess in the mid-infrared at 24 μm （Ks-[24]vega 〉 0.44）, indicating the presence of a circumstellar dust disk. The observed optical spectra show that they are all late-type main-sequence stars covering the spectral types of FGKM. Their fractional luminosities are well above 5× 10-5, even up to the high fractional luminosity of 1×10-3. The high galactic latitudes of SWIRE fields indicate that most of these candidates could belong to the oldest stars in the thick disk. Our results indicate that high fractional luminosity debris disks could exist in old solar-like star systems, though they are still quite rare. Their discovery at high galactic latitudes also provides an exellent opportunity for further study of the properties and evolution of debris disks in regions of the Galaxy with low densities of ISM, called ISM poor environments.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10933001, 10973006, 10973015 and 10673002)the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program+1 种基金Nos. 2007CB815404 and 2007CB815406)the Young Researcher Grant of National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘We study the ages of a large sample （1802） of nearly face-on disk low surface brightness galaxies （LSBGs） using the evolutionary population synthesis （EPS） model PEGASE with an exponentially decreasing star formation rate to fit their mul- tiwavelength spectral energy distributions （SEDs） from far-ultraviolet （FUV） to nearinfrared （NIR）. The derived ages of LSBGs are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample no matter if constant or varying dust extinction is adopted, which are similar to most of the previous studies on smaller samples. This means that these LSBGs formed the majority of their stars quite recently. However, a small part of the sample （~2%-3%） has larger ages of 5-8 Gyr, meaning their major star forming process may have occurred earlier. At the same time, a large sample （5886） of high surface brightness galaxies （HSBGs） are selected and studied using the same method for comparisons. The de- rived ages are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample （97%） as well. These results probably mean that these LSBGs have not much different star formation histories from their HSBGs counterparts. However, we should notice that the HSBGs are generally about 0.2 Gyr younger, which could mean that the HSBGs may have undergone more recent star forming activities than the LSBGs.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11303056 and 11273002)the NAOC astronomical financial special fund (Y533061V01)Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, CAS
文摘A large telescope＇s adaptive optics （AO） system requires one or more bright artificial laser guide stars to improve its sky coverage. The recent advent of a high power sodium laser is perfect for such application. However, besides the output power, other parameters of the laser also have a significant impact on the brightness of the generated sodium laser guide star, mostly in non-linear relationships. When tuning and optimizing these parameters it is necessary to tune based on a laser guide star generation performance metric. Although return photon fluxis widely used, variability of the atmosphere and sodium layer makes it difficult to compare results from different sites or even within a short time period for the same site. A new metric, coupling efficiency, is adopted in our field tests. In this paper, we will introduce our method for measuring the coupling efficiency of a 20W class pulse sodium laser for AO application during field tests that were conducted during 2013-2015.
文摘Vertical profile of turbulence strength(Cn2)is one of the most important attributes for evaluating a site’s astronomical performances.Although seeing is commonly used for describing turbulence strength,it can only represent the integral of all layers of the turbulence above the observer.Other techniques which can be applied to produce Cn2,such as DIMM-MASS,SCIDAR,etc.,all rely on rather complex systems to do the measurements.In this paper,we present an idea to evaluate the relative strength of turbulence with entropies of short exposure images taken at different conjugated heights of the turbulence.Initial experimental results are also presented in the paper.
