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Astronomical Techniques and Instruments

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出版信息

  • 出版时间:1977年-
  • 出版者:《天文技术与仪器(英文)》编辑部
  • 出版格式:
  • 主题: 天文学;
  • 总访问量:17635次

期刊简介

    本刊主管单位为中国科学院,主办单位为中国科学院云南天文台,国内统一连续出版物号为CN 53-1240/P,国际标准期刊号ISSN 2097-3675,刊期为双月刊,面向国内外公开发行。主要刊登天文技术方法或应用于天文方面的AI技术、天文数据处理、天文台址设备运行管理等方面的学术论文,天文仪器设备发展和大科学装置的综述性论文以及天文技术与仪器新概念、新理论、新成果、新技术等方面的原创性论文。

  • Evaluating the regional consistency of astronomical observing conditions across Dome A

    关键词: Dome A; Cloud cover; Vertical wind shear; Skin temperature; Net solar radiation; Climate stability;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.3724/ ati2025061

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:With  excellent  seeing  conditions,  ultra-low  infrared  background  noise,  high  frequency  of  space  debris transits,  and  continuous  polar  night  coverage,  Dome  A  in  Antarctica  has  become  an  ideal  platform  for ground-based astronomy and space situational monitoring. As a crucial observatory site for international deep space, deep Earth, deep sea,  and  polar  exploration,  it  is  very  important  to  evaluate  the  suitability  of Dome  A  as  an  observatory  site.  However, owing  to  extreme  environmental  constraints,  the  evaluation  of  site  conditions  is  mainly  based  on  single-point measurements,  making  it  challenging  to comprehensively  evaluate  the  effective  site  range  and  uniformity.  This  study integrated satellite remote sensing data to develop a cross-comparison framework for diverse indicators across Dome A, to evaluate its spatial uniformity. We find that the area surrounding the Dome A site, defined within a roughly 1° × 1° latitude and longitude range, possesses excellent astronomical observation conditions.

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  • Design and analysis of a direct-drive motor for astronomical telescopes in extreme Antarctic environments

    关键词: Axial flux motor; Low temperature; 3D finite element analysis; Antarctic astronomical telescope; Dome A;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.3724/ ati2025053

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:Effective  motors  are  crucial  for  driving  astronomical  telescopes,  especially  for  those  operating  in  Antarctica, where  the  harsh  environment  and  operating  conditions,  including  extreme  low  temperature, ice/snow  accumulation,  low power consumption, and unattended operation, introduce challenges to the design and development of motor drives. We present  the  design  of  a  permanent  magnet  synchronous  motor suitable  for  this  environment,  conducting  a  quantitative analysis  on  the  impacts  of  cryogenic  conditions  on  lubricant  performance,  differential  thermal  contraction  of  metallic components,  and  remanent  flux density  of  neodymium  iron  boron  (N52)  permanent  magnets.  We  also  implement  a labyrinth  seal  structure,  combined  with  silicone  sealing  rings,  to  mitigate  ice  crystal  intrusion  risks.  Finite  element analysis and  laboratory  tests  demonstrate  a  maximum  torque  output  of  25  Nm.  This  kind  of  motor  is  used  in  the Antarctic  15  cm  Near  Infrared  Telescope  at  Dome  A,  Antarctica.  Operation  data  shows  a  total encoder  feedback  error of 0.0678" for  the  telescope  control  system  with  15"  s−1 tracking  speed  at −56.79°C.  These  results  comprehensively validate the high reliability and precision of the motor under the extreme conditions of the polar environment.

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  • RASI: the Robotic All-Sky narrowband Imager

    关键词: Robotic; All-sky imager; Auroras; Airglow; Optical imaging;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10. 3724/ati2025054

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:We  report  a  new  standalone  Robotic  All-Sky  narrowband  Imager  (RASI)  for  auroral  and  airglow  studies. RASI  has  new  optics  and  an  electromechanical  system,  low  operation  and  installation  costs,  easy deployment  and  fully automatic  features.  The  new  optics  provide  an  all-sky  field  of  view  with  excellent  image  quality  and  sensitivity.  The new  electromechanical  system  design  offers  a  more  compact  size  and the  capability  for  outdoor  independent deployment.  We  have  also  developed  a  fully  automatic  data  acquisition  software  for  RASI,  which  is  based  on  the perception  of  solar  altitude  and  the  all-sky  cloud cover.  In  conclusion,  the  RASI  demonstrates  significant  advantages over  the  traditional  all-sky  narrowband  imager,  and  it  is  highly  suitable  for  the  intensity  measurements  of  large-scale auroras and airglow distributions.

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  • Probing the cosmological 21 cm global signal from the Antarctic ice sheet

    关键词: Radio astronomy; Low frequency; Global spectrum; Antarctica;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.3724/ ati2025051

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:The  redshifted  21  cm  line,  arising  from  neutral  hydrogen,  offers  a  unique  probe  into  the  intergalactic medium  and  the  first  stars  and  galaxies  formed  in  the  early  universe.  However,  detecting  this  signal is a challenging task  because  of  artificial  radio-frequency  interference  (RFI)  and  systematic  errors  such  as  ground  effects.  The  interior of  the  Antarctic  continent  provides  an  excellent  location  to  make  such observations,  with  minimal  RFI  and  relatively stable  foreground  signals.  Moreover,  a  flat  plateau  in  central  Antarctica,  with  an  ice  cap  over 2000 m  deep,  will  show less ground reflection of radio waves, reducing the signal complexity in the area around the probing antenna. It may be advantageous  to  perform  cosmological  21  cm  experiments  in  Antarctica,  and  a  21  cm Antarctic global  spectrum experiment  can  potentially  be  deployed  on  the  Antarctic  ice  cap.  We  have  performed  preliminary  instrumental  design, system  calibration,  and  implementation  of  such  an  instrument  optimized for  extreme  cold  and  capable  of  long-term autonomous  operation.  This  system  shows  the  ability  to  effectively  detect  the  21  cm  signal,  confirming  Antarctica  as an excellent observational site for radio cosmology.

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  • An optimization strategy for reliable Antarctic telescope control systems

    关键词: Antarctic telescope; Control system; Reliability; Optimization strategy;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.61977/ ati2025049

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:Antarctic  telescopes,  especially  those  located  at  Dome  A,  face  significant  reliability  challenges  owing  to  the extremely  harsh  working  environment,  among  which  the  reliability  of  the  control  system  is critical in ensuring  stable operation. This paper describes various factors affecting the reliability of Antarctic telescopes, as well as the challenges of  reliability  improvement.  Combined  with  the  development  of  Antarctic telescopes  and  the  experience  of  Antarctic scientific  expeditions,  we  introduce,  in  detail,  the  optimization  strategy  for  reliability  enhancement,  including  the hardware layer, software layer, modular design to facilitate maintenance, and reliability management. The current status of  the  Antarctic  Survey  Telescope  (AST3)  is  also  briefly  introduced,  along  with  future development  plans.  We  aim  to provide  ideas  for  the  reliability  design  of  Antarctic  telescopes  and  provide  technical  support  for  the  development  of future Antarctic telescopes.

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  • Performance analysis and strategy optimization of mechanical defrosting for an Antarctic near-infrared telescope using aperture photometry

    关键词: Dome A; Antarctic infrared thermal radiation; Mechanical defrosting; Aperture photometry;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.3724/ ati2025057

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:Dome  A,  in  Antarctica,  offers  an  exceptional  site  for  ground-based  infrared  astronomy,  with  its  extremely low  atmospheric  infrared  background  noise  and  excellent  seeing  conditions.  However,  deploying near-infrared telescopes  in  the  harsh  environment  of  Antarctica  faces  the  critical  challenge  of  frost  accumulation  on  optical  mirrors. While  indium  tin  oxide  heating  films  effectively  defrost  visible-band Antarctic astronomical  telescopes,  their  thermal radiation  at  infrared  wavelengths  introduces  significant  stray  light,  severely  degrading  the  signal-to-noise  ratio  for infrared  observations.  To  address  this limitation,  we  have  designed  a  mechanical  snow-removal  system  capable  of efficiently  clearing  frost  from  sealing  window  surfaces  at  temperatures  as  low  as –80°C.  Aperture  photometry  of  target sources, Canopus  and  HD 2151,  revealed  that  after  six  days  without  intervention,  floating  snow  extinction  reduced target  brightness  by  up  to  3  magnitudes.  Following  mechanical  defrosting,  the  source  flux recovered  to  stable  levels, with  measured  magnitudes  showing  rapid  initial  improvement  followed  by  stabilization.  Data  analysis  indicates  that  a frost  removal  strategy  operating  every  48  h,  with  each operation  consisting  of  4–6  cycles, enables  efficient  removal  of frost  and  snow  without  introducing  additional  thermal  noise.  Future  work  will  focus  on  optimizing  the  adaptive  control algorithm  and exploring  novel  low-temperature  defrosting materials  to  extend  the  periods  during  which  Antarctic infrared telescopes can operate unattended.

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  • Data matching and association based on the arc-segment difference method

    关键词: Optical  data  processing; Space  target  identification; Fuzzy  correlation; Arc-segment  difference  method; Orbit determination;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.61977/ ati2025029

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:In  response  to  the  issue  of  fuzzy  matching  and  association  when  optical  observation  data  are  matched  with the  orbital  elements  in  a  catalog  database,  this  paper  proposes  a  matching  and  association strategy  based  on  the  arcsegment  difference  method.  First,  a  matching  error  threshold  is  set  to  match  the  observation  data  with  the  known catalog  database.  Second,  the  matching  results  for  the  same day  are  sorted  on  the  basis  of  target  identity  and observation  residuals.  Different  matching  error  thresholds  and  arc-segment  dynamic  association  thresholds  are  then applied  to  categorize  the  observation residuals  of  the  same  target  across  different  arc-segments,  yielding  matching results  under  various  thresholds.  Finally,  the  orbital  residual  is  computed  through  orbit  determination  (OD),  and  the positional error  is  derived  by  comparing  the  OD  results  with  the  orbit  track  from  the  catalog  database.  The  appropriate matching  error  threshold  is  then  selected  on  the  basis  of  these  results,  leading  to  the  final matching  and  association  of the  fuzzy  correlation  data.  Experimental  results  showed  that  the  correct  matching  rate  for  data  arc-segments  is  92.34% when  the  matching  error  threshold  is  set  to  720″,  with the  arc-segment  difference  method  processing  the  results  of  an average  matching  rate  of  97.62%  within  8  days.  The  remaining  5.28%  of  the  fuzzy  correlation  data  are  correctly matched  and  associated, enabling  identification  of  orbital  maneuver  targets  through  further  processing  and  analysis. This  method  substantially  enhances  the  efficiency  and  accuracy  of  space  target  cataloging,  offering  robust technical support for dynamic maintenance of the space target database.

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  • A target imaging simulation method for ground-based system based on signal-to-noise ratio

    关键词: Image  SNR  calculation; Imaging  simulation; Ground-based  optical  detection  system; Space  target  image sequence;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.61977/ ati2025023

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:Space  target  imaging  simulation  technology  is  an  important  tool  for  space  target  detection  and  identification, with  advantages  that  include  high  flexibility  and  low  cost.  However,  existing  space  target imaging  simulation technologies  are  mostly  based  on  target  magnitudes  for  simulations,  making  it  difficult  to  meet  image  simulation requirements  for  different  signal-to-noise  ratio  (SNR)  needs.  Therefore, design  of  a  simulation  method  that  generates target  image  sequences  with  various  SNRs  based  on  the  optical  detection  system  parameters  will  be  important  for  faint space  target  detection  research. Addressing  the  SNR  calculation  issue  in  optical  observation  systems,  this  paper proposes  a  ground-based  detection  image  SNR  calculation  method  using  the  optical  system  parameters.  This  method calculates  the  SNR  of  an  observed  image  precisely  using  radiative  transfer  theory,  the  optical  system  parameters,  and the  observation  environment  parameters.  An  SNR-based  target  sequence  image simulation  method  for  ground-based detection  scenarios  is  proposed.  This  method  calculates  the  imaging  SNR  using  the  optical  system  parameters  and establishes  a  model  for  conversion  between  the target's  apparent  magnitude  and  image  grayscale  values,  thereby enabling  generation  of  target  sequence  simulation  images  with  corresponding  SNRs  for  different  system  parameters. Experiments show that the SNR obtained using this calculation method has an average calculation error of <1 dB when compared  with  the  theoretical  SNR  of  the  actual  optical  system.  Additionally,  the  simulation images  generated  by  the imaging simulation method show high consistency with real images, which meets the requirements of faint space target detection algorithm research and provides reliable data support for development of related technologies.

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  • Stellar flare detection methods in TESS data: application and performance study

    关键词: Stellar flare detection; TESS light curve; ML; Automatic classification;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.61977/ ati2025028

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:The  detection  of  stellar  flares  is  crucial  to  understanding  dynamic  processes  at  the  stellar  surface  and  their potential  impact  on  surrounding  exoplanetary  systems.  Extensive  time  series  data  acquired  by  the Transiting  Exoplanet Survey  Satellite  (TESS)  offer  valuable  opportunities  for  large-scale  flare  studies.  A  variety  of  methods  is  currently employed  for  flare  detection,  with  machine  learning  (ML)  approaches demonstrating  strong  potential  for  automated classification  tasks,  particularly  for  the  analysis  of  astronomical  time  series.  This  review  provides  an  overview  of  the methods  used  to  detect  stellar  flares  in  TESS data  and  evaluates  their  performance  and  effectiveness.  It  includes  our assessment  of  both  traditional  detection  techniques  and  more  recent  methods,  such  as  ML  algorithms,  highlighting  their strengths  and limitations.  By  addressing  current  challenges  and  identifying  promising  approaches,  this  manuscript  aims to support further studies and promote the development of stellar flare research.

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  • Instant determination of polar motion with tri-static common view lunar laser ranging

    关键词: Equatorial coordinate system; LLR; PM; Satellite laser ranging; Space geodesy;

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.61977/ ati2025027

    提交时间: 2025-12-03

    摘要:A method is presented for determining instant values of Earth’s polar motion (PM) using a set of lunar laser ranging  (LLR)  measurements  acquired  simultaneously  by  tri-static  common  view  (TCV)  at  three  LLR stations  in Europe.  We  developed  a  model  of  the  LLR  TCV  measurements,  then  formulated  the  linear  equation  for  solving  PM. Although  there  was  no  actual  TCV  event  in  the  data,  we  conducted  a  two-phase  study  to  test  our  method  using  actual LLR  normal  points  (NPs)  acquired  by  the  European  stations  during  2012–2022.  In  the  first  phase,  we  simulated  TCV events  and  PM  solutions.  The  robustness  of our  method  was  assessed  by  introducing  Universal  Time  (UT1)  errors  and per-station  range  errors  in  this  phase.  In  the  second  phase,  we  augmented  the  actual  LLR  NPs  with  simulated  data  to generate realistic  TCV  events  and  solutions,  using  the ‘1+2’ and ‘2+1’ strategies,  which  differed  in  terms  of  data composition.  Results  indicated  that  a  UT1  error  of  0.1  ms  caused  PM  errors  of  <18  mas,  while  a uniform  range  error of  50  mm  resulted  in  PM  errors  of  <180  mas.  In  the  augmentation  phase,  the  maximum  solution  errors  were  752  and 899  mas,  and  88.5%  and  91.2%  of  the  solutions  were  better  than the  predictions  for  the ‘1+2’ and ‘2+1’ strategies, respectively.  The  presented  approach  relies  on  precise  geodetic  data,  and  therefore,  it  is  not  intended  to  replace  the traditional  method.  However,  this study  demonstrated  that  instant  determination  of  PM  is  feasible  and  robust,  although the accuracy requires further enhancement.

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