Aim to Japan's participation in the Artemis program in the 2030s in mind, we pursue the feasibility studies of lunar telescope, including astronomical observations. Focusing on the meter-wavelength observations (observing frequency of lower than 50MHz), which cannot be observed in the harsh environments on the ground from the Earth, including the ionosphere and radio frequency interference, we have reported on conceptual design based on the results of our feasibility studies in Japan. The main scientific objectives we have studied so far are broadly covering the following three areas: astronomy and astrophysics, planetary science, and lunar science. In astrophysics, the observing frequency range of 1- 50MHz gives us an opportunity to observe the 21 cm global signal (spatial average temperature) from the Dark Ages, which is determined purely by cosmology and is not affected by first-generation star formation and cosmic reionization. In astronomy, it provides the images of the Milky Way galaxy at meter wavelengths. In planetary science, it will be possible to study the environments of exoplanets through 1) radio waves from auroras on gas giant exoplanets like Jupiter and 2) stellar radio-wave bursts. In lunar science, it has the potential to observationally study the lunar ionosphere, subsurface structure, and dust environment. At present, we plan the meter-wavelength interferometric array as lunar telescope, including the single-dish observations. In this paper, focused on the scientific requirements from cosmology, we will report the design concepts of Japanese lunar telescope project, including the advanced feasibility studies of antenna, receiver, signal chain and spectrometer that are compared as other studies in US, China and Europe. We named this project TSUKUYOMI.
We have planned the Lunar observatory project, TSUKUYOMI aiming to meter-wavelength observations on the Moon. One of the scientific objectives is to observe the 21 cm global signal from the Dark Ages using the 1–50 MHz observing frequency range. The receiving system must have a noise temperature sufficiently lower than the foreground noise and also requires the flat bandpass response. To cover the ultra-wide bandwidth, an electrically-short dipole antenna and a preamplifier with high input impedance will be employed. This paper focuses on a feasibility study of the system performance. The environment of and around the observation site, such as the lunar surface dielectric constant and the antenna height from the ground plane, affects the sensitivity because it alters important parameters such as the antenna beam pattern and impedance. The investigation results of relationship between the surrounding environment and the sensitivity will be also reported.
Low-frequency radio observations below 50 MHz on the Moon are not subject to some radio interference, allowing for the study before the formation of the first star, which is impossible from the Earth. Our lunar observatory project, TSUKUYOMI, aims to observe the 21cm global signal from the Dark Ages, requiring wideband observations covering 1-50MHz to spot absorption features of ∼ 40 mK relative to the CMB. Considering the radiation from the Milky Way, which is the main foreground noise source and the reception characteristics of the short dipole antenna, a pre–amplifier with a noise lower than 2nV/√ Hz and an input capacitance of 25pF will result in a system noise well below foreground noise over the entire bandwidth and a roughly flat wideband response. Managing the input/floating capacitance and using a lumped constant circuit is crucial for wideband performance. This paper outlines the wideband system and delves into the system performance requirements.
We have been developing a wideband heterodyne receiver for simultaneous observations in isotopologue CO lines of J = 2–1 and J = 3–2 transitions with dual-polarization. To achieve these simultaneous observations, a wideband frequency separation system was required in the radio frequency circuit because the intermediate frequency range of the superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixer is narrower than the frequency range of the CO lines from J = 2–1 to J = 3–2. As the frequency separation system, a waveguide multiplexer that connects three types of diplexers was applied. The prototype multiplexer was already developed and installed in the 1.85-m radio telescope. Then, we succeeded in commissioning observations simultaneously in 230 and 345 GHz bands with single polarization. We are currently working on improving the multiplexer and developing a 90° differential phase shifter and a wideband orthomode transducer (OMT). The 90° differential phase shifter and OMT can be combined to operate as a circular polarizer. We are planning to realize observations of both linearly and circularly polarized waves by using the OMT and circular polarizer, respectively. A part of this development can contribute to the future development of Atacama Large millimeter/submillimeter Array and Very Long Baseline Interferometry telescopes. In this paper, we describe the development of the prototype wideband receiver and the development status of the OMT, circular polarizer, and a new multiplexer.
VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) is a VLBI facility operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. It comprises four 20 m radio telescopes located across the country. VLBI observations at 86 GHz allow us to explore the jet base of nearby active galactic nuclei. In recent years, the development of the 86 GHz receiver systems at the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN) has started. Currently, only three Korea VLBI Network (KVN) antennas provide 86 GHz VLBI capability in the member stations of EAVN. The participation of VERA in the 86 GHz VLBI observations will boost resolution, sensitivity, and dynamic range. Therefore, we are developing a new 86 GHz low noise receiver system to be installed at VERA Mizusawa and Ishigaki stations. We are considering a cooled circular polarization receiver covering a wide frequency range of 67−116 GHz with the capability of cooling HEMT amplifiers. We are developing a room temperature 2 side band (2SB) system for down-converting signals in the 67−116 GHz band. Recently developed room-temperature mixers with an IF frequency over 25 GHz could cover most of the 67−116 GHz RF signals in a single observation. In this poster, we will discuss the development progress of the 2SB receiver and the design status of the cooling Dewar.
The Ka-/Q-band in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is important for astrophysical and astrochemical research, particularly in the subfield of interstellar medium (ISM). The two bands cover not only the fundamental lines of the abundant dense gas tracer CS and its isotopologues but also a vast number of transitions of relatively large, long-chain, and/or complex organic species. Here, through a Taiwan-Japan collaboration, an extended Q-band (30-50GHz) receiver is built for Nobeyama 45-m telescope. The receiver front-end was installed at Nobeyama 45-m telescope in Nov. 2021 and obtained its first light in the same month. Commissioning and science verification (CSV) of the receiver was conducted in the first half of 2022. After commissioning, this receiver will be the only one in the world providing capability to cover 3 Zeeman transitions simultaneously at 7mm wavelength installed at large single dish telescope. It will be one of the most powerful facilities to explore the magnetic fields towards the pre-protostellar cores.
We report the current status of the NASCO (NAnten2 Super CO survey as legacy) project which aims to provide all-sky CO data cube of southern hemisphere using the NANTEN2 4-m submillimeter telescope installed at the Atacama Desert through developing a new multi-beam receiver and a new telescope control system. The receiver consists of 5 beams. The four beams, located at the four corners of a square with the beam separation of 720′′, are installed with a 100 GHz band SIS receiver having 2-polarization sideband-separation filter. The other beam, located at the optical axis, is installed with a 200 GHz band SIS receiver having 2-polarization sideband-separation filter. The cooled component is modularized for each beam, and cooled mirrors are used. The IF bandwidths are 8 and 4 GHz for 100 and 200 GHz bands, respectively. Using XFFTS spectrometers with a bandwidth of 2 GHz, the lines of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O of J=1−0 or J=2−1 can be observed simultaneously for each beam. The control system is reconstructed on the ROS architecture, which is an open source framework for robot control, to enable a flexible observation mode and to handle a large amount of data. The framework is commonly used and maintained in a robotic field, and thereby reliability, flexibility, expandability, and efficiency in development are improved as compared with the system previously used. The receiver and control system are installed on the NANTEN2 telescope in December 2019, and its commissioning and science verification are on-going. We are planning to start science operation in early 2021.
The 1.85-m mm-submm telescope has been operated at Nobeyama Radio Observatory to observe molecular clouds in the nearby Galactic Plane based on the molecular lines of 12CO, 13CO, C18O(J = 2–1). We are planning to relocate the telescope to a site (∼2,500 m) at the Atacama Desert in Chile and to newly install a dual-band receiver for simultaneous observations of lines of CO isotopes with the transitions of J = 2–1 and J = 3–2. In order to achieve this goal, we have developed a wideband diplexer to separate radio frequency (RF) 211–275 GHz (ALMA Band 6) and 275–373 GHz (ALMA Band 7). We adopted a waveguide type FrequencySeparation Filters (FSF) as the basic concept of the wideband diplexer in 210–375 GHz. The wideband diplexer (α) has already been fabricated and measured as the prototype, and we thus obtained reasonable performance in the CO lines band. On the other hand, the measurement result indicates the return loss is relatively worse in 280–300 GHz, although it doesn’t affect the simultaneous observations of 230 GHz and 345 GHz band. We carried out 3D shape measurement with an optical microscope, and then, found that there are machining errors in the parts of the resonator in High Pass Filter. The analysis based on electromagnetic simulation reveals that the errors significantly affect return loss around cut-off frequency. In this paper, we describes the design of the waveguide diplexer, S-parameter measurement, and detailed analysis to verify the discrepancy between simulation and measurement.
Currently, we are performing a large-scale survey of molecular clouds toward the Galactic Plane in 12CO, 13CO, and C18O(J = 2–1) with the 1.85-m mm-submm telescope from Nobeyama Radio Observatory. In addition, we are proceeding with the preparation of a new project to observe several additional molecular lines including higher transitions of CO isotopes, such as 12CO, 13CO, and C18O(J = 2–1, 3–2) simultaneously with a wideband receiver (210–375 GHz). The optics has a Cassegrain reflector antenna with Nasmyth beam-waveguide feed and is composed of Main-reflector, Sub-reflector, ellipsoidal mirrors, and plane mirrors. New wideband optics will be required to achieve this goal. In order to accomplish the optics, we have designed a corrugated horn with a fractional bandwidth of ∼56 %, and frequency independent optics to couple the beam from the telescope onto the horn. The corrugated horn has a conical profile and the variable corrugation depth. It has been optimized by using CHAMP, our targeting return loss of better than −20 dB, cross-polarization loss of better than −25 dB, and far-field good radiation pattern. The simulation of the corrugated horn results in low return loss, low crosspolarization, and symmetric beam pattern in that frequency band. The simulated aperture efficiency of the designed receiver optics on the 1.85-m telescope is above 0.76 at all frequencies by using GRASP. Recently, we have succeeded in simultaneous observation of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O(J = 2–1 and 3–2) toward Orion KL with the optics for the first time.
We report the current status of the 1.85-m mm-submm telescope installed at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (altitude 1400 m) and the future plan. The scientific goal is to reveal the physical/chemical properties of molecular clouds in the Galaxy by obtaining large-scale distributions of molecular gas with an angular resolution of several arcminutes. A semi-automatic observation system created mainly in Python on Linux-PCs enables effective operations. A large-scale CO J =2–1 survey of the molecular clouds (e.g., Orion-A/B, Cygnus-X/OB7, Taurus- California-Perseus complex, and Galactic Plane), and a pilot survey of emission lines from minor molecular species toward Orion clouds have been conducted so far. The telescope also is providing the opportunities for technical demonstrations of new devices and ideas. For example, the practical realizations of PLM (Path Length Modulator) and waveguide-based sideband separating filter, installation of the newly designed waveguide-based circular polarizer and OMT (Orthomode Transducer), and so on. As the next step, we are now planning to relocate the telescope to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile (altitude 2500 m), and are developing very wideband receiver covering 210–375 GHz (corresponding to Bands 6–7 of ALMA) and full-automatic observation system. The new telescope system will provide large-scale data in the spatial and frequency domain of molecular clouds of Galactic plane and Large/Small Magellanic Clouds at the southern hemisphere. The data will be precious for the comparison with those of extra-galactic ones that will be obtained with ALMA as the Bands 6/7 are the most efficient frequency bands for the surveys in extra-galaxies for ALMA.
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