2017

Beijing, China (October 16, 2017) – Representatives from the Thirty Meter Telescope’s (TMT’s) Wide-Field Optical Spectrograph (WFOS) team and TMT’s China partners gathered recently in China to discuss potential collaboration during the next stage of the conceptual design of WFOS.

WFOS is planned to be one of TMT’s first-light instruments. It will offer extraordinary new capabilities to study the early, distant universe, including the first stars and galaxies, and the intergalactic medium.

WFOS is now in its conceptual design phase, studying two different instrument designs: a slicer-based concept, and a fiber-based concept. The final decision will be made in March 2018. The next step will then include optimizing and prototyping the opto-mechanical design, fiber or slicer concepts, cameras, dispersive architecture, large refractive gratings, dichroics, robotics systems, and details of detector design. This will be followed by a two-year preliminary design phase, then final design, fabrication and integration and test phases, prior to fielding and commissioning on the telescope.

Dr. Fengchuan Liu, the Deputy Project Manager of TMT, updated the current status of TMT to all attendees remotely. WFOS Instrument Project Manager Maureen Savage (UCO), Lead Engineer Matthew Radovan (UCO) and Dr. Zheng Cai (UCO) introduced the program, the technical opportunities and the science goals of WFOS, respectively.

Representatives from several Institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences and universities introduced their interests and their corresponding abilities, including National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) and its affiliate, Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology (NIAOT); Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO); Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP); Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC); Shanghai Jiao Tong University (STJU); Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST); Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT).

The TMT WFOS delegation also visited SHAO, SIOM, NIAOT, USTC and Tsinghua University, and held face-to-face discussions with each team.

Figure 1: TMT WFOS China Partnership Meeting. WFOS Instrument Project Manager Maureen Savage (UCO), presents “WFOS Programmatic Update” and schedule. Image Credit: TMT-China Group

Figure 2:TMT WFOS China Partnership Meeting Participants. Representatives from TMT’s Wide-Field Optical Spectrograph (WFOS) team, including Maureen Savage, Matthew Radovan, and Zheng Cai, members of TMT-China office, and representatives from National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) and its affiliate, Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology (NIAOT); Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO); Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP); Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC); Shanghai Jiao Tong University (STJU); Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST); and Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). Image Credit: TMT-China Group

8月30至9月2日，中科院近代物理研究所在兰州隆重召开“使用巨型望远镜，照亮黑暗宇宙（Shedding Light on the Dark Universe with Extremely Large Telescopes）”国际研讨会。本次会议是共计三期的系列研讨会（https://conferences.pa.ucla.edu/dark-universe/index.html）的开端。该系列研讨会的目的在于挖掘科学共同体的智慧以优化下一代巨型光学-红外望远镜的科学目标、科学运行和科学仪器计划。本次会议聚焦于下一代巨型望远镜将如何揭示暗物质和暗能量的本质问题。
近代物理所Jarah Evslin研究员致欢迎辞并介绍了会议的背景和主题。 来自14个国家与地区的60余位天文学家齐聚一堂，对三大未来30米级光学-红外望远镜（Thirty Meter Telescope [TMT], Giant Magellan Telescope [GMT], and European Extremely Large Telescope [E-ELT]）的科学目标、科学仪器和建设现状，以及它们与其它波段的下一代观测利器（如the Square Kilometre Array [SKA]）的协同观测等问题进行了深入地探讨。
中国是三十米望远镜(TMT)国际天文台的正式成员之一。TMT项目副经理刘凤川教授、TMT-中国项目科学家毛淑德教授以及TMT科学咨询委员会委员郝蕾研究员向与会者分别介绍了TMT的现状、建设计划和科学能力。毛淑德教授就“系外行星、地外生命和三十米望远镜”做了精彩的公众演讲。
与会者就未来大望远镜时代如何利用不同的天体探针（星系团、超新星、近邻矮星系、强引力透镜和Lyman-alpha森林），结合大尺度巡天（如 eBOSS、PFS、LSST）来约束暗物质与暗能量的性质进行了热烈的讨论。深入的、富有针对性的理论和观测准备是未来光学巨镜能够充分发挥其科学潜力、做出重大科学发现的必要前提，本次会议为此做出了重要贡献。