The Miyun 50m radio telescope and possible upgrading project

Jin Chengjin & Zhang JuyongMiyun Radio Astronomy Group, NAOC

2003, 11, 03

Contents:

Brief history of the Miyun 50m project

The current status

The possible upgrading plan

Brief history:

• The Miyun Station was founded in 1960s.

• The MSRT and the Miyun 15m telescope

Scientific motives for building a new 50m radio telescope:

• Long-time monitoring of pulsars

• Gravitational wave detection

• IPS observations

• A VLBI unit

The conceptual design in the beginning (~2001,11):

• L-band telescope

• Metal mesh

• Light weight

Some improvement afterwards (~2002,3):

Chinese Lunar project

• S/X band

• Metal plate + mesh

• Much stronger

The status:

• The contract was signed in Oct, 2002.• The technical design has been finished. • In parallel, we have organized several techni

cal reviews for the antenna design.• The prospection was completed.• The antenna is schedueled to be completed i

n the first half of 2005.

The technical review meetings:

• Reviewed by domestic experts (2002, 4)• Reviewed by experts from Germany, the

UK and Australia (2002, 6)• Reviewed by structure engineer from

NRAO (2003,2)

Constructive comments & suggestions

The first pulsar observation was performed with this 15-m telescope.

This telescope was built in 1992.

The 15-m Radio Telescope

The prospecting apparatus(2003, 7):

50m Telescope Design Specifications:

Dish diameter ： 50 m

Surface ： metal plate + metal mesh

Mounting ： Altitude-Azimuth

RMS surface accuracy ： 1.0mm (inner 30m) 3mm (outer part)Short wavelength limit ： 2.0cm(15 GHz) (inner 30m)

Pointing accuracy ： 19 arcsec

Slew rates (elevation) ： 0.5 degree per second

Optics ： Prime focus f/D = 0.35

Slew rates (azimuth) ： 1.0 degree per second

Metal plate : inner 30m Wire mesh : outer part

Possible upgrading plan:

• The reflecting surface

• The pointing accuracy

• The optics

Goal: up to 43GHz

The reflecting surface• Active surface

The pointing accuracy:

• Pointing model & A new servo system

The optics:

• Secondary focus

• Enough space and weight load

The upgrading plan:

• A doctor student is working on this project.