Tianma radio telescope

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Tianma 65-meter radio telescope

Coordinates: 31 ° 5 ′ 31.6 ″  N , 121 ° 8 ′ 11.4 ″  E

The Tianma radio telescope ( Chinese  天馬 望遠鏡  /  天马 望远镜 , Pinyin Tiānmǎ Wàngyuǎnjìng ; occasionally the spelling Tian Ma is also used ), abbreviated SH65, is a modern, fully movable 65-meter radio telescope in Tianma in the west of the large community of Sheshan , which in turn is used for Songjiang District belongs to the Chinese city ​​of Shanghai . It has an adaptive adaptation of the surface with actuators and a design- dependent reception range of 1-50 GHz as well as receivers for the frequency bands L, S, X, C, Ku , K, K a and Q.

history

In 2008, the Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai City Government, and the People's Republic of China Lunar Program Directorate decided to jointly finance the construction of a 65-meter radio telescope. The estimated construction cost was 200 million yuan (about 200 million euros in purchasing power). From a funding point of view, this was a purely civil project. However, the order for the planning and construction of the antenna was awarded to the 54th Research Institute of the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (中国 电子 科技 集团公司 第五 十四 研究所, Pinyin Zhōngguó Diànzǐ Kējì Jítuán Gōngsī Dì Wǔshísì Yánjiūsuǒ ), which was the department at that time for electronic warfare of the General Staff (since January 1, 2016 the Strategic Combat Support Force of the People's Liberation Army ).

In 2009 the planning was completed and the production of the components began; the cornerstone ceremony for the parabolic antenna took place on December 29, 2009 on a 2 hectare property west of the village of Sanjiezhi (三 界址 村). The actual construction activities began on March 19, 2010; In summer 2012 the 70 m high and 2700 t heavy telescope was ready and the microwave receivers for the L, S, X and C frequency bands could be installed. The first light from the radio telescope was on October 26, 2012. The system was later expanded with receivers for the K u , K, K a and Q bands.

use

The telescope is operated by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory , an institute of the Academy of Sciences. The “Research Group Tianma Telescope” (天马 望远镜 研究 团组, Pinyin Tiānmǎ Wàngyuǎnjìng Yánjiū Tuánzǔ ) is working there - initially until December 2020 - under the direction of Shen Zhiqiang , the director of the observatory, with research on star formation and the interstellar medium . The Shanghai Observatory has had a 25 m radio telescope in Sheshan since 1986 , 6.1 km from the location of the new telescope. Both radio telescopes can be operated together for better performance.

The telescope has multiple uses, on the one hand it serves for radio astronomical research and research on geodynamics , and on the other hand it supports the Chinese space missions. For space travel, it is part of the Chinese deep space network for the lunar program and future Mars missions . For this purpose, it has Delta-DOR technology and a high-precision hydrogen maser clock and is connected to the correlator and the other Chinese radio telescopes via a powerful computer network. Thus, the system can not only receive signals from spaceships, but together with the other stations, in particular with the two militarily managed deep-space stations in Kashgar and Giyamusi, contribute to their precise position determination. It had its first use in space travel on the Chang'e-3 mission, the position of the lander on the moon could be determined with it to less than 1 m. The station complies with the provisions of the CCSDS , so the station for space travel can exchange data with other space agencies and antenna networks worldwide.

Together with the 25-meter antenna and the antennas in Nanshan near Ürümqi , Miyun near Beijing and Kunming , the Tianma is part of the Chinese VLBI Network (CVN) and thus forms a VLBI telescope the size of China. With the addition of this station, the sensitivity of the CVN network has been improved by a factor of 2.6.

In 2010/11, at the same time as the construction of the large antenna 2.4 km east of it, 4 km west of the old 25 m telescope (i.e. more or less in the middle), the VLBI center was set up on a 6.5 hectare property (VLBI 中心) with 3600 m² building area, plus buildings with 3400 m² for the additional facilities. The center correlates not only the data from the 25- and 65-meter radio telescopes, but also the other data from the entire CVN. Together with the 25-meter antenna, the telescope is part of the European VLBI network , which uses 22 radio telescopes worldwide, and of the East Asia VLBI Radio Telescope Network , which uses data from 21 Chinese, Korean and Japanese radio telescopes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tianma is 40 km from the sea to the southeast, but strong winds blow there during the typhoon season. In terms of the attacking forces, the radio telescope is basically a coastal radar with an oversized parabolic antenna. Unlike the 25 m telescope, which is located in the shelter of Sheshan Hill, the 65 m telescope stands on a wide open area so that it can work in all directions.
  2. ↑ 上海 天文台 大型 天文 观测 设备. In: shao.cas.cn. Retrieved October 30, 2019 (Chinese).
  3. ↑ 沈志强: 个人 主页 沈志强. In: http://people.ucas.edu.cn . Retrieved October 30, 2019 (Chinese).
  4. ^ Center for Astro-geodynamics. In: http://english.shao.cas.cn . May 20, 2014, accessed February 25, 2019 .
  5. ↑ 杜 苗: 航拍 上海 65 米 射 电 天文 望远镜 工地 计划 2015 年 完工. In: http://tech.ifeng.com . April 6, 2012, Retrieved February 23, 2019 (Chinese).
  6. ↑ Shen Zhiqiang : Tian Ma 65-m Radio Telescope. In: https://science.nrao.edu . May 19, 2014, accessed February 23, 2019 .
  7. ↑ 陈欣 炜 、 柯 伟 、 梁 潇: 上海 年鉴 2013 二十 四 、 科学 技术 (五) 科技 管理. In: http://www.shanghai.gov.cn . April 16, 2014, accessed February 23, 2019 (Chinese).