Create great opportunities for the development of optical astronomy in China.
"This achievement was completed by the site selection team of Lenghu Optical Observatory led by Deng ..." "Saishiteng Lenghu Site is the most superior among all world-class sites ..." "The discovery of Lenghu World-class Site has broken the bottleneck that has long restricted the development of optical astronomy in China and created great opportunities for the development of optical astronomy in China. Especially in the geographical longitude area where the cold lake is located, or the blank area of the world's large-scale optical telescope ... "This report used more than 700 words, and distributed a photo of" Saishiteng Site of Cold Lake under Construction ",which introduced the geographical advantages, observation quality and great strategic significance of Saishiteng Site of Qinghai Cold Lake in optical astronomy, reflecting the difficulties and persistence of Deng's research team in astronomical site selection.
It fills the gap of excellent astronomical observation sites in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Since 20 18 and 1, Deng's research group has continuously monitored the number of sunny nights, the background brightness of sunny nights and the meteorology in Lenghu area. According to the monitoring data for three consecutive years, the median visibility of Saishiteng station site in Qinghai Lenghu is 0.75 seconds, which is roughly equivalent to the best international station site data in the same period. In addition, the site is also very superior in the index of "condensable water vapor".
"At present, the excellent astronomical observation sites that can meet the construction and operation requirements of the next generation of telescopes are all in the western hemisphere. The discovery of the international first-class site of Lenghu has filled the gap in the Eastern Hemisphere and formed a 24-hour monitoring network. The discovery of the new site of Lenghu is particularly beneficial to astronomical observation, which not only creates great opportunities for the development of optical astronomy in China, but also is a valuable resource for the development of international optical astronomy. " Deng said that the paper was published online in the main issue of the international scientific journal Nature on the evening of August 18. The collaborators were Liu Nian, Ren Anbing, Luo Zhiquan and Yan Yanzhou.
In 2009, Deng and his research team carried out observation work at Zijinshan Observatory in Delingha, but with the acceleration of urban development, the background brightness in Delingha direction increased by nearly 1000 times by 20 17, which directly affected astronomical observation. From 20 18 to 18, the research team began to set up equipment at the temporary monitoring point under the Saishiteng Mountain in Lenghu Lake to measure the basic parameters. From 2065438 to May 2008, Haixi sent helicopters to transport site selection personnel to the site selection site for the first time. Since then, the first batch of infrastructure materials and equipment materials have been hoisted up the mountain by helicopter. On June 20 18 and 10, all the equipment except the dust meter (put into operation at the end of 20 19) was put in place, and the research group began to monitor the visibility.
"When the cold current crosses the border, the outdoor temperature is close to MINUS 30 degrees. When people wake up in the middle of the night on the mountain, they always have to endure the cold and look at the equipment and monitoring data. " Deng's research team overcame many difficulties and finally made this great discovery with professionalism and unremitting efforts.
Saishiteng became the largest optical astronomical observation base in China.
"On June 5438+February 65438+February 09, 2020, the 50 cm binoculars cooperated by China West Normal University and the National Astronomical Observatory achieved the first scientific observation." Deng said that dozens of astronomical telescopes have started construction or signed plans to settle in Lenghu Lake, including Tsinghua University's 6.5-meter world-class optical telescope. Saishiteng has now become the largest optical astronomical observation base in China.
It is reported that on July 23, 2020, at the kick-off meeting of the construction project of the Cold Lake Astronomical Observation Base, President Wang and Vice President of China West Normal University signed the Settlement Agreement between the Observatory of China West Normal University and the Student Internship Base of the Astronomy Department of China West Normal University on behalf of the school. China West Normal University became the first university to officially settle in the Cold Lake Astronomical Observation Base. At present, a large number of scientific facilities have been built in the project settled in Lenghu Astronomical Observation Base, including the 50BiN scientific optical telescope built by West China Normal University and the 2.5-meter wide-field survey telescope of China University of Science and Technology.
Deng said that LAMOST, the first large-scale scientific project with a diameter of 8 meters in China, will be moved to Lenghu after upgrading, and super-large telescopes and large telescope arrays at home and abroad will be settled in Lenghu astronomical observation base. By then, the Cold Lake Observatory will become one of the largest observatories in the world.