Development of a Parallel Imager for Southern Cosmology Observations: Time Evolution of Dark Energy

本项目是为麦哲伦望远镜的南方宇宙学观测构建并部署多波段平行成像仪。这台仪器将快速、同步、流水线地测量亮度、颜色和暗天文源的红移。该仪器包括一个摄像机，它可以在四个光学波段同时获取图像，以及部署在6.5米麦哲伦望远镜上的紧密耦合实时分析软件。它的设计是为了解决天体物理学中的一些重要问题，包括跟进南极望远镜和阿塔卡马探路者实验的调查，获得这些调查发现的星系的图像和光度红移。它还将对超新星进行精确的光度测定，以便绘制出宇宙膨胀的历史。这些测量将有助于理解暗能量的本质。它还将用于使用四种颜色来测量系外行星的凌日，这可以限制行星的轨道和物理参数。该仪器将提供给麦哲伦财团的许多用户，使天文社区广泛接触，并将在很大程度上让学生参与仪器的设计、建造和部署以及使用。

This project is to construct and deploy a multiband Parallel Imager for Southern Cosmology Observations for the Magellan telescope. This instrument will make fast, simultaneous, pipelined measurements of brightness, color, and redshift toward faint astronomical sources. The instrument comprises a camera that acquires simultaneous images in four optical passbands along with tightly coupled real-time analysis software to be deployed on the 6.5 meter Magellan telescope. It is designed to address a number of important questions in astrophysics including follow up to surveys by the South Pole Telescope and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment obtaining images and photometric redshifts of galaxies discovered with these surveys. It will also perform precision photometry of supernovae in order to map out the history of cosmic expansion. These measurements will help to understand the nature of Dark Energy. It would also be used to measure exoplanet transits using the four colors which can constrain planetary orbits and physical parameters.The instrument will be available to the many users of the Magellan consortium giving broad access to the astronomical community and will heavily involve student participation in the design, construction and deployment of the instrument as well as in its use.