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.

非常昏暗的星系挑战了我们对星系如何形成的理解。然而，很难使用普通望远镜研究此类星系。问题在于，普通望远镜使用“次级”镜子将“主”镜子从目镜或相机上弹跳。此次级镜子阻止了主镜子并扭曲了图像。在这里，调查人员将使用一种新型的望远镜，该望远镜通过组合几种“折射”望远镜来形成一个较大的望远镜来制造。折射望远镜不需要次级镜子。因此，来自折射望远镜的图像比普通望远镜的图像更清晰。这款新望远镜旨在研究非常昏暗的星系。望远镜还将用于研究银河系和其他星系。望远镜还将用于寻找绕着白色矮人恒星的地球状行星。望远镜还将用于公共宣传，以及一个更广泛的社区，包括历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的教职员工和学生，是六组六个现成的避开望远镜的名称，其中六个现成的CMOS摄像头构成了阵列望远镜。调查人员计划最初在新墨西哥州进行北方调查，然后于2022年6月搬到智利的里奥·赫塔多山谷（Rio Hurtado Valley），并启动南部秃鹰南方天空调查。秃鹰配备了宽带和窄带过滤器，可以以1分钟的速度获取数据。该科学包括研究各种星系环境中非常低表面 - 亮度星系和星系特征的事件，并在白色矮人的可居住区域中发现类似地球的行星。该项目包括将20％的可用观察者时间分配给更广泛的社区，其中包括历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的调查人员，该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响标准来评估NSF的法定任务。