Collaborative Research: The Condor Southern Sky Survey (Plus Northern Extension)

合作研究：秃鹰南方巡天（加上北方延伸）

• 批准号: 2107954
• 负责人: Kenneth Lanzetta
• 金额: $ 31.41万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2107954&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Condor; Southern; Sky

Very dim galaxies challenge our understanding of how galaxies formed. Yet it is hard to study such galaxies using normal telescopes. The problem is that normal telescopes use a “secondary” mirror to bounce light from a “primary” mirror onto an eyepiece or a camera. This secondary mirror blocks the primary mirror and distorts the image. Here the investigators will use a new type of telescope that is made by combining several “refracting” telescopes to form one larger telescope. A refracting telescope does not require a secondary mirror. So, images from a refracting telescope are clearer than images from a normal telescope. This new telescope is designed to study very dim galaxies. The telescope will be used to study the Milky Way and other galaxies. The telescope will also be used to search for Earth-like planets orbiting white-dwarf stars. The telescope will also be used for public outreach and by a broader community including faculty and students at historically black colleges and universitiesCondor is the name for a set of six off-the-shelf refracting telescopes with six off-the-shelf CMOS cameras that form an array telescope. The investigators plan to locate the telescope initially in New Mexico for a Condor Northern Survey, then relocate to the Rio Hurtado Valley in Chile in June 2022 and initiate the Condor Southern Sky Survey. Condor is equipped with broad- and narrow-band filters and can acquire data at a cadence of 1 min. The science includes studying the incidence of very-low-surface- brightness galaxies and galaxy features across a variety of galaxy environments, and discovering transiting Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of white dwarfs. The project includes allocating 20% of the available observing time to a broader community that includes 10% of the total to investigators at historically black colleges and universities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非常暗淡的星系挑战了我们对星系形成方式的理解。然而，用普通的望远镜很难研究这样的星系。问题是，普通的望远镜使用“副”镜将“主”镜上的光反射到目镜或照相机上。这个副镜像会挡住主镜像，使图像失真。在这里，研究人员将使用一种新型望远镜，这种望远镜是由几个“折射”望远镜组合成一个更大的望远镜。折射望远镜不需要副镜。因此，折射望远镜拍摄的图像比普通望远镜拍摄的图像更清晰。这台新望远镜是为研究非常昏暗的星系而设计的。该望远镜将用于研究银河系和其他星系。该望远镜还将用于寻找围绕白矮星运行的类地行星。该望远镜还将用于公众宣传，并被更广泛的社区使用，包括历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的教职员工和学生。秃鹰是一组由六台现成的折射望远镜组成的名称，这六台现成的CMOS相机组成了一个阵列望远镜。研究人员计划首先将望远镜定位在新墨西哥州进行秃鹰北部巡天，然后在2022年6月搬迁到智利的里约热内卢Hurtado山谷，并启动秃鹰南部巡天。秃鹰配备了宽带和窄带滤波器，可以以1分钟的节奏获取数据。科学研究包括在各种星系环境中研究表面亮度非常低的星系的发生率和星系特征，以及在白矮星的可居住区域发现过境类地行星。该项目包括将20%的可用观察时间分配给更广泛的社区，其中10%的观察时间分配给传统黑人学院和大学的调查人员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。