MRI Acquisition: A New Start for the TSU 2 m Automatic Spectroscopic Telescope

天文学家开始为望远镜配备控制系统和仪器，使望远镜能够在无人值守的情况下工作，在计算机的控制下自动观测恒星和其他物体，计算机还收集数据并将其输入分析观测结果的软件。 几个这样的望远镜正在运行中;他们中的大多数通过不同的彩色滤光片拍摄物体的照片，以比较不同颜色物体的相对光通量。 这些测量可以用来估计温度，化学成分，甚至一些物体的速度。 但是，要对这些重要的物理参数进行更精确的测量，需要将望远镜收集到的光发送到一种称为光谱仪的仪器上，在那里它被分散成彩虹色，从而获得更复杂的测量结果。 目前很少有望远镜+摄谱仪以自动模式运行，但有很多很好的理由这样做，特别是为了监测由于星星斑点、脉动或轨道伴星偶尔发生的日食而改变其发射光线的物体。 田纳西州立大学的弗朗西斯·费克尔博士在亚利桑那州南部的费尔伯恩天文台使用这样一台自动光谱望远镜。 他正在对望远镜的光学和相机进行重大改进，这将提高灵敏度和吞吐量，并允许天文学家研究更多和更暗的恒星和其他物体。 他的工作得到了NSF的主要研究仪器计划通过天文科学部的支持。

Astronomers are beginning to outfit telescopes with control systems and instruments that allow the telescopes to work unattended, automatically observing stars and other objects under the control of a computer that also gathers the data and feeds it to software that analyzes the observations. Several such telescopes are under operation; most of them take pictures of objects through different colored filters to compare the relative fluxes of the light of objects seen in different colors. These measurements can be used to estimate the temperatures, chemical make-ups, and even velocities of some objects. But making more precise measurements of these important physical parameters requires that the light the telescope gathers be sent to an instrument called a spectrograph where it is spread out into a rainbow of colors and more sophisticated measurements can be obtained. At present few telescopes+spectrographs are operated in automatic mode, but there are many good reasons to do so, especially to monitor objects that change the light they emit due to star spots, pulsation, or occasional eclipses by orbiting companions. Dr. Francis Fekel of Tennessee State University works with such an Automatic Spectroscopic Telescope at the Fairborn Observatory in southern Arizona. He is making significant improvements to the telescope optics and camera that will increase the sensitivity and throughput and allow astronomers to study more and fainter stars and other objects. His work is supported by NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program through the Division of Astronomical Sciences.