| 摘要: | 我們申請繼續參與「泛星計畫」(Pan-STARRS; the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System) 以研究天體之時變現象。此計畫乃美國夏威夷大學建構之獨特廣角觀測系統，由四座1.8 公尺望遠鏡組成，各自配備最新型、具備14 億個像元之CCD偵測相機，視野達7 平方度。泛星計畫每晚將巡天6000 平方度，深度達24 星等，每月全天空巡天數次。除了對於星系、恆星，以及太陽系天體史無前例的深度曝光與天空廣度覆蓋以外，泛星計畫特別適合探測「變化」（包括亮度與位置變化）的天體。泛星計畫的首要目標在標認出可能撞擊地球的小行星，其後果攸關人類文明的延續。泛星計畫將產生極大資料量，涵蓋天空深度、廣度以及時間覆蓋面，這些資料將對觀測天文學產生革命性影響，包括古柏帶天體、變星、系外行星、超新星，以及迦瑪射線源的研究。泛星計畫的科學目標符合目前我國光學/紅外天文界之研究重點，例如太陽系天體、系外行星、恆星形成、超新星以及宇宙論研究等。我國團隊包括國內可見光天文學者、行星科學家，以及計算資訊工程專家，在過去三年我們已經在多方面與其他國際團隊合作，除了科學課題，亦合力建構資料處理程序，另一方面我們主導太陽系小型天體之研究課題，預期在2009 年七月巡天觀測正式開始後，於2-3 年內做出具影響力的研究工作。 We propose to continue to join the Scientific Consortium of the Pan-STARRS (the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System) project for time variability studies. Pan-STARRS is an innovative wide-field imaging facility being developed at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, with four 1.8-m telescopes, each equipped with a novel CCD mosaic of 1.4 billion pixels rendering a field of view of 7 square degrees on the focal plane. This unique facility will cover 6,000 deg2 per night and patrol the entire available sky to a limiting magnitude of 23.5 several times each month. In addition to the unprecedented depth in photometry of galaxies, stars, and solar-system objects and sky coverage, Pan-STARRS will be highly effective to survey and study moving objects and transient phenomena. The immediate goal of Pan-STARRS is to discover and characterize Earth-approaching asteroids and comets that might pose a danger to Earth. The Pan-STARRS data --- in space depth, sky and time coverage --- will revolutionize many disciplines in astronomy and space studies, from Kuiper-belt objects, variable stars, extrasolar planets, supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts, just to list a few. The scientific goals of Pan-STARRS match well with current research interests of the optical/infrared astronomy community in Taiwan. We have been a partner of the Consortium since 2006, and actively involved in the analysis of commissioning data. Our team consists of optical astronomers, space scientists, and computer scientists. Working groups in Taiwan have contributed, in addition to scientific key projects, to developments of image analysis pipelines, data archival, distribution, and database. We lead a few projects in transient and solar-system studies, and expect to make impact contribution in 2-3 years, once the routine survey starts in the summer of 2009. 研究期間 : 9808 ~ 9907 |
