A High-Speed Multi-beam Camera for Time-Domain Astrophysics

从蜂鸟翅膀的精确运动，子弹如何穿过苹果，到一些日常物品的振动，自然界中的一些过程发生得如此之快，以至于眼睛无法欣赏它们的美丽，也无法理解它们工作的细节和方式。为了能够理解它们，我们需要使用最先进的设备将它们的运动速度放慢几十到几千倍。许多天体物理过程的研究都面临着同样的问题：它们发生或演变得如此之快，以至于标准的仪器和技术都不足以研究它们。有了这笔资金，我们将建造OPTICAM-ARG，这是一种最先进的相机，可以让时间“慢下来”。这台高分辨率相机每秒可以拍摄1万张天空变化的照片。这种惊人的高帧率将使我们能够研究黑洞和中子星是如何吞噬附近的恒星的，帮助我们理解从恒星中剥离出来的气体在穿过自然界中已知的最强烈弯曲时空的那些微小（几公里）区域时发生了什么。OPTICAM-ARG是我们雄心勃勃的愿景的一部分，我们称之为eNFOCAR（天体物理快速光学相机网络）。通过eNFOCAR，我们的目标是为大中型天文台提供一种新的标准（低成本）成像仪，具有前所未有的时间分辨率能力。通过在全球范围内建立一个望远镜网络，我们可以实现对快速变化的天空无与伦比的连续覆盖，为了解一些最神秘的天体物理现象打开了一扇新的窗口。

From the precise motion of a hummingbird's wings, how a bullet passes through an apple, to how some of everyday objects vibrate, some processes in nature happen so fast that the eye cannot appreciate their beauty nor understand the details of what and how they work. To be able to understand them we need to slow down their motion by factors of tens to thousands using state-of-the-art equipment. The study of many astrophysical processes suffers from the same problem: they are happening or evolving so fast that standard instruments and techniques are not good enough to study them. With the funds requested we will build OPTICAM-ARG, a state-of-the-art camera to virtually "slow-down time". This high-time resolution camera will be capable of making 10,000 photos per second of the changing sky. This amazing high frame rate will allow us to study how black holes and neutron stars devour nearby stars, helping to understand what happens with the gas that is ripped off from the stars, as it travels through those tiny (few km) regions of the most strongly curved space-time known to exist in Nature. OPTICAM-ARG is part of our prototypes for a much ambitious vision we call eNFOCAR (Network of Fast-Optical Cameras for AstRophysics). With eNFOCAR we aim to provide a new standard (low-cost) imager for mid- to large-size observatories with unprecedented time-resolution capabilities. By building a network of telescopes around the globe we can achieve unparalleled continuous coverage of the rapidly changing sky, opening up a new window of opportunities to understand some of the most mysterious astrophysical phenomena.