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

非常暗的星系挑战了我们对星系如何形成的理解。然而，用普通望远镜很难研究这样的星系。问题是，普通望远镜使用“次镜”将来自“主要”镜的光线反射到目镜或相机上。此次镜像会阻止主镜像并使映像失真。在这里，研究人员将使用一种新型的望远镜，它是由几个“折射”望远镜组合而成的，形成一个更大的望远镜。折射式望远镜不需要第二面镜子。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。这个新的望远镜是为研究非常暗的星系而设计的。该望远镜将用于研究银河系和其他星系。该望远镜还将用于搜索围绕白矮星运行的类地行星。该望远镜还将用于公共宣传，并被更广泛的社区使用，包括历史上一直是黑人的学院和大学的教职员工和学生。Condor是一套六个现成的折射望远镜的名字，其中六个现成的cmos摄像头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方调查，然后在2022年6月搬迁到智利的里奥赫塔多山谷，并启动秃鹰南方天空调查。秃鹰配备了宽带和窄带滤光片，可以以1分钟的节奏采集数据。这门科学包括研究极低表面亮度星系的发生率和各种星系环境中的星系特征，以及在白矮星的宜居带发现凌日的类地行星。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%分配给历史上为黑人的学院和大学的调查人员。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.