Astronomical observations in northern Canada

加拿大北部的天文观测

• 批准号: 424159-2012
• 负责人: Abraham, Roberto
• 金额: $ 1.09万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Northern Research Supplement
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=596531
• 关键词: Astronomical; observations; northern; Canada

For decades Canadian astronomers have obtained their observations from Chile and Hawaii because sites in these locations have been assumed to be the best in the world for astronomical observations. In particular, these locations appear to have very little atmospheric turbulence, leading to outstanding image quality. It is therefore extraordinarily exciting that some preliminary evidence has emerged which suggests that Ellesmere Island in Northern Canada may have images at least as good as the best sites in Chile and Hawaii. Does Canada host the world's finest astronomical observing site? In order to find out, the University of Toronto's Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics has begun construction of a pathfinder arctic observatory. This proposal seeks funding for student and postdoctoral travel to this observatory, and for the construction of small-scale instrumentation to better understand the quality of the observing site.

几十年来，加拿大天文学家从智利和夏威夷获得了观测结果，因为这些地点被认为是世界上最适合天文观测的地点。特别是，这些地点的大气湍流似乎非常小，导致了出色的图像质量。因此，一些初步证据的出现令人格外兴奋，这些证据表明，加拿大北部的埃尔斯米尔岛的图像可能至少与智利和夏威夷的最佳景点一样好。加拿大拥有世界上最好的天文观测站吗？为了找出答案，多伦多大学邓拉普天文学和天体物理研究所已经开始建造探路者北极天文台。该提案寻求资助学生和博士后前往该天文台旅行，以及建造小型仪器，以更好地了解观测点的质量。