• Title/Summary/Keyword: astronomical instruments

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Study on Astronomical Instruments and Restoration in Joseon Dynasty (조선(朝鮮)의 천문의기(天文儀器)와 복원(復元))

  • Lee, Yong-Sam
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.23-23
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    • 2011
  • 조선조 세종대는 천문과학기술의 전성기였다. 세종 자신도 천문학에 밝았던 데다 유교적 정치이념을 구현하기 위한 국책 사업의 성격이 강했기 때문에 조선조의 천문학은 세계적 수준으로 발돋움하였다. 이것은 고려시대부터 축적된 천문과학기술과 창조적 재능을 지닌 많은 과학기술자들이 있었기 때문에 가능했다. 1432년 세종이 천문의기 제작을 명한 지 6년만인 1438년에 각종 관측기기를 완비한 천문대인 간의대가 완성되었다. 당대로서는 세계 최대 규모로 인정받고 있는 거대한 종합 천문대인 간의대의 주변에는 혼천의, 혼상, 규표 등 다양한 천문 관측기기를 설치하였다. 규표로는 24기를 정밀하게 측정할 수 있었고, 각종 해시계로는 한양의 정확한 시간을 잴 수 있었다. 해와 별을 관측하여 낮과 밤의 시간을 측정하는 일성정시의와 천체 관측기기인 소간의 등 다양한 관측의기들이 독창적으로 창제되었다. 아쉽게도 세종대에 제작한 천문의기들 가운데 현존하는 유물은 한 점도 남아 있지 않다. 당시 천문유물은 사라져버렸지만 문헌을 통해 세종시대 각종 천문 관측의기의 복원 연구를 통해 설계와 복원을 수행하였다. 천문의기 복원(復元)은 모형(模型)을 만드는 것이 아니므로 자재와 공법들은 전통적인 방식으로 제작하여야 한다. 각 부품들이 계시기(計時器)로서 정확히 작동하도록 복원하려면 정교하게 제작하여야만 한다. 뿐만 아니라 천문의기들은 왕궁(王宮)에서 사용한 것으로 외형적으로 왕권을 상징하는 용(龍)의 형상과 화려한 문양으로 장식되어 있기 때문에 복원 과정에서 예술적인 면도 신중히 고려하여야 한다. 여기서는 지금까지 복원한 조선의 각종 천문의기의 구조와 기능 및 복원 과정의 주요 내용을 소개하고자 한다.

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PERFORMANCE OF THE SRAO 6-METER RADIO TELESCOPE

  • KOO BON-CHUL;PARK YONG-SUN;HONG SEUNG SOO;YUN HONG-SIK;LEE SANG-GAK;BYUN DO-YOUNG;LEE JUNG-WON;CHOI HAN-KyU;LEE SANG-SUNG;YOON YOUNG-ZOO;KIM KEE-TAE;KANG HYUN WOO;LEE JUNG-EuN
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.43-48
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    • 2003
  • We introduce and describe performance of the 6-meter telescope of Seoul Radio Astronomy Observatory (SRAO). All the softwares and instruments except the antenna structure and its driving system are developed for ourselves. The SIS mixer type receiver resulted in the receiver noise temperature less than 50 K (DSB) over the whole 3-mm radio window. An autocorrelation spectrometer, developed first in Korea, provides maximum 50 MHz band width over 1024 channels. Antenna surface is measured and adjusted using template method and radio holography which resulted in a superb surface accuracy bet-ter than 30${\mu}m$. Accordingly, the aperture and beam efficiences amount to $70\%$ and $75\%$, respectively, largely independent of frequency in the 85 - 115 GHz range. It is also found that telescope pointing errors are less than 10" in both azimuth and elevation and that antenna gain is almost constant against elevation greater than $20^{\circ}$, without adjusting sub-reflector position. The SRAO 6-meter telescope is now fully operational and all these characteristics verify that observations are carried out with high precision and fidelity.

REQUIREMENTS AND FEASIBILITY STUDY OF FPC-G FINE GUIDING IN SPACE INFRARED TELESCOPE, SPICA (대형 적외선 우주망원경 SPICA/FPC-G의 정밀 별추적 요구사항과 타당성 연구)

  • Jeong, Woong-Seob;Lee, Dae-Hee;Pyo, Jeonghyun;Moon, Bongkon;Park, Sung-Joon;Ree, Chang Hee;Park, Youngsik;Han, Wonyong;Nam, Ukwon;Matsumoto, Toshio
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.391-397
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    • 2012
  • The SPICA (SPace Infrared Telescope for Cosmology & Astrophysics) project is a next-generation infrared space telescope optimized for mid- and far-infrared observation with a cryogenically cooled 3m-class telescope. It will achieve the high resolution as well as the unprecedented sensitivity from mid to far-infrared range. The FPC (Focal Plane Camera) proposed by KASI as an international collaboration is a near-infrared instrument. The FPC-S and FPC-G are responsible for the scientific observation in the near-infrared and the fine guiding, respectively. The FPC-G will significantly reduce pointing error down to below 0.075 arcsec through the observation of guiding stars in the focal plane. We analyzed the pointing requirement from the focal plane instruments as well as the error factors affecting the pointing stability. We also obtained the expected performance in operation modes. We concluded that the FPC-G can achieve the pointing stability below 0.075 arcsec which is the requirement from the focal plane instruments.

Development of the Near Infrared Camera System for Astronomical Application

  • Moon, Bong-Kon
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.39.2-39.2
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    • 2010
  • In this paper, I present the domestic development of near infrared camera systems for the ground telescope and the space satellite. These systems are the first infrared instruments made for astronomical observation in Korea. KASINICS (KASI Near Infrared Camera System) was developed to be installed on the 1.8m telescope of the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO) in Korea. KASINICS is equipped with a $512{\times}512$ InSb array enable L band observations as well as J, H, and Ks bands. The field-of-view of the array is $3.3'{\times}3.3'$ with a resolution of 0.39"/pixel. It employs an Offner relay optical system providing a cold stop to eliminate thermal background emission from the telescope structures. From the test observation, limiting magnitudes are J=17.6, H=17.5, Ks=16.1 and L(narrow)=10.0 mag at a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 in an integration time of 100 s. MIRIS (Multi-purpose InfraRed Imaging System) is the main payload of the STSAT-3 in Korea. MIRIS Space Observation Camera (SOC) covers the observation wavelength from $0.9{\mu}m$ to $2.0{\mu}m$ with a wide field of view $3.67^{\circ}{\times}3.67^{\circ}$. The PICNIC HgCdTe detector in a cold box is cooled down below 100K by a micro Stirling cooler of which cooling capacity is 220mW at 77K. MIRIS SOC adopts passive cooling technique to chill the telescope below 200K by pointing to the deep space (3K). The cooling mechanism employs a radiator, a Winston cone baffle, a thermal shield, MLI of 30 layers, and GFRP pipe support in the system. Opto-mechanical analysis was made in order to estimate and compensate possible stresses from the thermal contraction of mounting parts at cryogenic temperatures. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of mechanical structure was also conducted to ensure safety and stability in launching environments and in orbit. MIRIS SOC will mainly perform the Galactic plane survey with narrow band filters (Pa $\alpha$ and Pa $\alpha$ continuum) and CIB (Cosmic Infrared Background) observation with wide band filters (I and H) driven by a cryogenic stepping motor.

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Development of KHU Automatic Observing Software for McDonald 30inch telescope (KAOS30)

  • Ji, Tae-Geun;Byeon, Seoyeon;Lee, Hye-In;Jung, Hyunsoo;Lee, Sang-Yun;Hwang, Sungyong;Choi, Changsu;Gibson, Coyne A.;Kuehne, John;Marshall, Jennifer;Im, Myungshin;Pak, Soojong
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.57.1-57.1
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    • 2017
  • Automatic observing is the most efficient system for sky surveys that image many targets over large areas of the sky. Such a system requires the integrating control software that systematically manages astronomical instruments that are not connected to each other. In February of 2017, we installed a wide-field 10 inch telescope for Supernovae survey on the McDonald 30 inch telescope as a piggyback system. However, during the observations, information such as target coordinates could not be exchanged with the telescope mount. The reason is the program that controls the telescope control system (TCS) and the program that controls the imager operate on independent PCs. KAOS30 is an integrated observing software developed to improve this environment. The software is composed of four packages that are the Telescope Control Package (TCP), the Data Acquisition Package (DAP), the Auto Focus Package (AFP), and the Script Mode Package (SMP). The TCP communicates to the TCS and also communicates weather information. SMP supports automatic observing in a script mode, which improves the efficiency of the survey. KAOS30 was developed based on Visual C ++ and runs on the Windows operating system. It also supports the ASCOM driver platform for various manufacturers. The instruments that support ASCOM can be installed without modification of the program code. KAOS30 can be applied as software for many different telescopes in future projects.

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OBSERVATION SYSTEM OF SOLAR FLARE TELESCOPE (태양플레어망원경의 관측 시스템)

  • Park, Young-Deuk;Moon, Yong-Jae;Jang, Be-Ho;Sim, Kyung-Jin
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.35-45
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    • 1997
  • SOFT($\underline{So}lar\;\underline{F}lare\;\underline{T}elescope$) installed at BOAO(Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory) is purposed for observing solar active regions using four refractors on single mount with a $400"\times300"$ field of view: Two refractors with a diameter of 15cm(f15) are observe the white light and $H\alpha$, and the other two refractors with a diameter of 20cm(f8) are observe the magnetic field distribution and Doppler shifts at the solar chromosphere. Three Lyot filters, one of the most important observational instruments, are installed on the optical rails for VMG, LMG, and $H\alpha$ that possible to very narrow pass band observation under high precision stability of temperature. From the combination of KD*P and quarter wave plate in the Lyot filter possible observe the magnetic fields strength and doppler shifts by using the characteristics of polarization components. In this paper, we introduce the basic characteristics, optical system, and monitor system of the SOFT.

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The phase angle dependences of Reflectance on Asteroid (25143) Itokawa from the Hayabusa Spacecraft Multi-band Imaging Camera(AMICA)

  • Lee, Mingyeong;Ishiguro, Masateru
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.61.3-62
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    • 2015
  • Remote-sensing observation is one of the observation methods that provide valuable information, such as composition and surface physical conditions of solar system objects. The Hayabusa spacecraft succeeded in the first sample returning from a near-Earth asteroid, (25143) Itokawa. It has established a ground truth technique to connect between ordinary chondrite meteorites and S-type asteroids. One of the scientific observation instruments that Hayabusa carried, Asteroid Multi-band Imaging Camera(AMICA) has seven optical-near infrared filters (ul, b, v, w, x, p, and zs), taking more than 1400 images of Itokawa during the rendezvous phase. The reflectance of planetary body can provide valuable information of the surface properties, such as the optical aspect of asteroid surface at near zero phase angle (i.e. Sun-asteroid-observer's angle is nearly zero), light scattering on the surface, and surface roughness. However, only little information of the phase angle dependences of the reflectance of the asteroid is known so far. In this study, we investigated the phase angle dependences of Itokawa's surface to understand the surface properties in the solar phase angle of $0^{\circ}-40^{\circ}$ using AMICA images. About 700 images at the Hayabusa rendezvous phase were used for this study. In addition, we compared our result with those of several photometry models, Minnaert model, Lommel-Seeliger model, and Hapke model. At this conference, we focus on the AMICA's v-band data to compare with previous ground-based observation researches.

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THE SYNERGY OF LARGE AREA SURVEYS WITH AKARI AND HERSCHEL

  • Pearson, Chris;Serjeant, Stephen;Sedgwick, Chris;White, Glenn J.;Matsuhara, Hideo;Takagi, Toshinobu;Nagisa, Oi;Murata, Kazumi;Nakagawa, Takao;Yamamura, Issei
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.375-380
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    • 2012
  • The Herschel Space Observatory is the European Space Agency's state of the art infrared space telescope launched into space on 14 May 2009, covering the wavelength range from 70-700 microns with 3 instruments SPIRE, PACS and HIFI. Large area surveys are being carried out by Herschel in the AKARI legacy fields at the North and South Ecliptic Poles and the AKARI All-Sky Survey provides additional synergy with the largest survey with Herschel, H-ATLAS, covering more than 500 square degrees. This paper reports on some of the early results of these synergies between Herschel and AKARI including the first comparison of the AKARI All-Sky Survey number counts with the deeper Herschel surveys.

IONOSPHERIC OBSERVATION USING KOREAN SATELLITES

  • MIN KYOUNG W.;LEE JAEJIN;PARK JAEHEUNG;KIM HEEJUN;LEE ENSANG
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.spc1
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    • pp.109-115
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    • 2003
  • We report the results of the ionospheric measurement obtained from the instruments on board the Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite - 1 (KOMPSAT-l). We observed a deep electron density trough in the nighttime equatorial ionosphere during the great magnetic storm on 15 July 2000. We attribute the phenomena to the up-lifted F-layer caused by the enhanced eastward electric field, while the spacecraft passed underneath the layer. We also present the results of our statistical study on the equatorial plasma bubble formation. We confirm the previous results regarding its seasonal and longitudinal dependence. In addition, we obtain new statistical results of the bubble temperature variations. The whole data set of measurement for more than a year is compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI). It is seen that the features of the electron density and temperature along the magnetic equator are more prominent in the KOMPSAT-l observations than in the IRI model.

ON THE ARMILLARY SPHERE OF NAM BYONG-CHUL-I (남병철의 혼천의 연구 I)

  • LEE YONG-SAM;KIM SANG-HYUK;NAM MOON-HYON
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.47-57
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    • 2001
  • In this paper we have reconstructed an armillary sphere based on the Method of an Armillary Sphere Making described in the Volume 1 of The Collection of Writings on the Scientific Instruments-Uigijipsol (儀器輯說, two volumes) edited in the 1850's by Nam Byong-Chul (南秉哲, 1817-1863) who was a famous Korean states-man-scientist. Nam achieved convenience and accuracy in the measurements of stellar positions in the manner of selective setting the equatorial, ecliptic and horizontal poles by adding a pole axis exchange ring called Jaigeukkwon (載極圈) between the Three Arrangers of Time and Four Displacements. We made use of 3-dimensional graphic software for modelling Nam's armillary sphere which consisted of five layers-eight rings. Results of simulation showed that the pole axis exchange ring functioned properly in setting the equatorial, ecliptic and horizontal coordinates simply by exchange of positions of specified holes on the ring. We ascertained that the invention of Jaigeukkwon solved inherent problems in the conventional Chinese armillary sphere in computation of real ecliptic coordinates. It was revealed that Nam Byong-Chul made great contributions in the East Asian history of armillary sphere making.

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