With the continuous progress of science and technology, human exploration of the universe has become more and more in-depth. Today, we would like to introduce to you an epoch-making scientific research project - the world's first "Mid-infrared Observation System for Accurate Measurement of the Solar Magnetic Field" (AIMS Telescope for short).
The AIMS telescope is located on the D platform of Saishiteng Mountain, Lenghu Town, Mangya City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China, where the average altitude is about 4,000 meters, and the environment is harsh, but it is precisely this place that provides the best conditions for researchers to observe the sun.
After more than 5 months of debugging and observation, the AIMS telescope has achieved its core scientific goal, improved the accuracy of vector magnetic field measurement by an order of magnitude, and realized the leap from "indirect measurement" to "direct measurement" of the solar magnetic field. This marks a major breakthrough in the field of solar magnetic field detection.
The success of the AIMS telescope is inseparable from the hard work of Wang Dongguang, chief engineer of the Huairou Solar Observation Base of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other scientific researchers. Using an ultra-narrowband Fourier spectrometer, they achieved the desired goal of directly measuring the Zeeman split distance to obtain the strength of the solar magnetic field in the mid-infrared band. This breaks through the bottleneck in the 100-year history of solar magnetic field measurement and makes "direct measurement" possible.
The AIMS telescope is the world's first equipment dedicated to the observation of the solar magnetic field in the mid-infrared waveline, and its appearance will unveil the mystery of the sun in the mid-infrared band. Feng Zhiwei, a senior engineer at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that through optical design to eliminate stray light and vacuum refrigeration, they have solved the problems of high environmental background noise and reduced detector performance faced by infrared solar observation in this band. All components are domestically produced, which fully reflects the mainland's independent innovation ability and manufacturing strength in the field of science and technology.
The AIMS telescope is not only leading the way in accurately measuring the Sun's magnetic field, but also finding new scientific opportunities in the mid-infrared, a less currently known band. Its successful development provides more possibilities for future astronomical research and exploration.
With the commissioning of the AIMS telescope, the study of the sun's magnetic field activity will be more in-depth. We look forward to revealing the mysteries of the mechanism of magnetic energy generation, accumulation, triggering and energy release during the Sun's magnetic field activities through the observation data of the AIMS telescope in the near future, as well as the transfer of matter and energy during violent eruptions such as flares. This will provide strong support for mankind to better understand solar activity and predict important astronomical phenomena such as solar storms.
Let's look forward to the AIMS telescope leading a new chapter in the detection of the sun's magnetic field, exploring the mysteries of the universe and writing scientific miracles!