JPH11249028A - Sun telescope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a sun telescope which has a structure suitable for sealing, can have high tracking precision without reference to an observation style, and enables a high-precision observation of the sun. SOLUTION: A sealed space is formed of sealing windows W1 to W3 and hold members 11, 14, and' 16 and in this sealed space, optical components such as a plane mirror M1, a plane mirror M2, a concave mirror M3, a plane mirror M4, and a plane mirror M5 are stored. For an observation for tracking, the plane mirrors M1 and M2 as an optical system regarding the pointing of the sun are used in common to a sun observation and the plane mirrors M4 and M5 are fixed in the gravitational direction, i.e., the perpendicular direction and not affected by gravitational deformation so much, so a sun image which is free of a variation factor is used as a sun image at the time of the sun observation to trace the sun.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solar telescope for observing the sun while tracking it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A traditional and well-known solar telescope equipped with a sun tracking mechanism is known as a tracking mechanism such as a chirostat ("Enhanced New Edition Encyclopedia of Modern Astronomy (Koseisha)"
P. 173 ”) (hereinafter referred to as Conventional Example 1). FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of such a solar telescope of Conventional Example 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the solar telescope of the first conventional example includes (a) a ceiling telescope 81 that tracks the sun, and (b) a fixed telescope 82 that forms an image of sunlight through the ceiling radio 81.

The celostat 81 is driven so as to make one round around the polar axis RA in 48 hours, and the plane mirror M6 on which sunlight enters and the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M6 enters, and the sun position according to the season is changed. And a plane mirror M7 driven so as to adjust the installation position and the inclination so that sunlight always enters the fixed telescope 82 in response to the declination change.

In the solar telescope of the first prior art, sunlight is received by the plane mirror M6 of the cirostat 81 and is incident on the fixed telescope 82 via the plane mirror M7. As described above, the plane mirror M6 is driven to make one round around the polar axis RA in 48 hours, and the plane mirror M7 responds to the declination change of the sun position due to the season, and the sunlight always enters the fixed telescope 82. Thus, the sunlight continuously enters the fixed telescope 82 regardless of the lapse of time. The fine positioning on the sun surface to be observed is performed by driving the plane mirror M6 and the plane mirror M7 to adjust the respective installation positions.

[0005] The fixed telescope 82 emits sunlight toward the observation device 83 so that the incident sunlight is imaged on the light receiving surface of the measuring device 85 of the observation device 83. The observation device 83 observes the incident sunlight and performs, for example, spectrometry. In this way, while observing the sun, continuous observation of sunlight is performed.

In addition to the solar telescope employing the above-described cirostat, a solar telescope employing a so-called coup telescope system (see "New Astronomy Course 11 Observatory and Observation Instruments (Koseisha) P.35" etc.) Example 2) is known. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of such a solar telescope of Conventional Example 2. As shown in FIG.
The solar telescope of Conventional Example 2 includes (a) a primary mirror M8, a secondary mirror M9,
Main telescope 91 including plane mirror M10 and plane mirror M11
And (b) a tracking telescope 95 fixed to the main telescope 91 and observing the sun for tracking. Here, primary mirror M
8, the secondary mirror M9, and the plane mirror M10 are held by the holding member 92 in an internal space formed by the sealing window W4 and the holding member 92, and the plane mirror M11 is held by the holding member 93 and the sealing window W.
5 and is held by the holding member 93. A closed space is formed by the sealing window W4, the holding member 92, the holding member 93, and the sealing window W5.

Further, the solar telescope of the second conventional example has (c) a rotation drive mechanism 94a for driving the holding member 92 to rotate about the declination axis DEC as a center axis, and (d) a polar driving mechanism for the holding member 92 and the holding member 93. A rotation drive mechanism 95b that rotates integrally with the RA as a central axis, and (e) the rotation drive mechanisms 94a and 94b based on the results of sun observation from the tracking telescope 95.
And a tracking control device 96 for instructing rotation driving.

In the solar telescope of the second prior art, the sunlight passing through the sealing window W4 passes through the primary mirror M8 and the secondary mirror M9 to pass through the plane mirror M1.
It is bent at 0 and an optical path is set on the axis DEC. Next, an optical path is set on the axis RA by the plane mirror M11. On the other hand, the tracking control device 96 instructs the rotation drive mechanisms 94a and 94b to rotate based on the observation result from the tracking telescope 95. The rotation drive mechanisms 94a and 94b
The holding member 92 and the holding member 93 are driven such that the sunlight continuously enters the telescope 91 regardless of the passage of time. As a result, the optical path of sunlight through the plane mirror M11 is set on the axis RA. Then, the sunlight passing through the plane mirror M11 is emitted toward the observation device 83 via the sealing window W5. The observation device 83 observes the incident sunlight and performs, for example, spectrometry.

[0009]

Since the solar telescope handles high-intensity light, such as sunlight, it has recently become the mainstream that the optical system be hermetically sealed from outside air in order to improve the accuracy of solar observation. It is becoming. This is achieved by using a sealed structure to evacuate the interior to eliminate blurring of the solar image due to uneven temperature in the air in the lens barrel, or to fill the lens barrel with helium gas or the like for heat conversion. This is because the use as a medium can suppress an increase in the temperature of the optical component.

However, in the solar telescope using the cirostat of the conventional example 1, the cirostat is constituted by two plane mirrors M6 and M7 as shown in FIG. The angle formed by the line changes with time, and the position and inclination of the plane mirror M7 change with the season. Therefore, it is mechanically difficult to shield the two plane mirrors constituting the chirostat from the outside air. That is, it is not suitable for making the solar telescope as in Conventional Example 1 a sealed structure.

The solar telescope adopting the Coude telescope system of the prior art 2 is suitable for a closed structure,
The tracking of the sun is realized by controlling the attitude of the main telescope based on the observation result by the tracking telescope, which is composed of an optical system completely different from that of the main telescope. At this time, the observation direction of the main telescope and the observation direction of the tracking telescope must be parallel irrespective of the attitude of the main telescope, but since the mechanical structure changes differently due to the change in the attitude of the main telescope, tracking is performed. It was difficult to increase the accuracy.

In the case of a solar telescope adopting the coupé telescope system, when observation is performed by cutting out a very small part of sunlight such as spectroscopic measurement, the tracking telescope is not used and is not used for observation. It is conceivable to take out sunlight just before the observation device and use it for tracking, but if you want to observe the entire sun at the same time, it is necessary to install a tracking telescope consisting of an optical system different from the main telescope for tracking. Become.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has a structure suitable for a closed structure,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a solar telescope that can achieve high tracking accuracy regardless of the observation mode and that can perform high-precision solar observation.

[0014]

The solar telescope of the present invention comprises:
(A) a first sealing window for transmitting sunlight from the sun,
(B) while being held so as to be rotatable integrally with the first sealing window around a first axis extending in the horizontal direction as a central axis,
A normal of the reflecting surface intersects the first axis at an angle of 45 degrees,
(C) a first plane mirror that reflects the sunlight through the sealing window in a horizontal direction, and (c) the sealing window and the first plane mirror integrated with a second axis extending in a vertical direction as a central axis. A second plane mirror, which is rotatably held at a right angle, and whose normal to the reflecting surface intersects the second axis at an angle of 45 degrees, and reflects the light to be measured through the sealing window vertically downward. And (d) a central axis of the reflecting surface coinciding with the second axis, which is arranged at a position capable of receiving a part of sunlight reflected by the second reflecting mirror, and A concave mirror that forms an image at an image forming position, (e) a third plane mirror that is disposed in an optical path between the concave mirror and the image forming position, and reflects the sunlight from the concave mirror in a horizontal direction; (G) a second sealing window for transmitting sunlight reflected by the third plane mirror;
It is disposed between the second plane mirror and the third plane mirror in the vertical direction, occupies an area included in the area of the third plane mirror when viewed from the vertical direction, and is reflected by the second reflection mirror. A fourth plane mirror that reflects a part of the sunlight that does not reach the concave mirror out of the sunlight in a second direction different from the vertical direction, and (h) the sunlight reflected by the fourth plane mirror. A third sealing window for transmitting light, and (i) housing the first plane mirror, the second plane mirror, the concave mirror, the third plane mirror, the fourth plane mirror, and the fifth plane mirror, A sealing member that forms a sealed space together with the first sealing window, the second sealing window, and the third sealing window;
(J) receiving sunlight reflected by the fourth plane mirror,
It is characterized by including a tracking device that drives an element selected from the first sealing window, the first plane mirror, and the second plane mirror based on the light reception result to track the sun.

In the solar telescope according to the present invention, the sunlight passing through the first sealing window passes through the first plane mirror and the second plane mirror and then travels in the vicinity of the second axis except for a part. , Most of which reach the concave mirror. Then, after being reflected by the concave mirror, the light is emitted through the third plane mirror and the second sealing window. By observing the emitted sunlight with an observation device, the entire sun or a part of the sun is observed.

In the solar telescope of the present invention, the first sealing window,
A sealed space is formed by the second sealing window, the third sealing window, and the sealing member, and the first plane mirror and the second
, A concave mirror, a third plane mirror, and a fourth plane mirror. Therefore, by evacuating the inside of the lens barrel, which is a closed space, or by filling the lens barrel with helium gas or the like and using it as a heat conversion medium, blurring of the solar image due to uneven temperature of air in the lens barrel can be prevented. It can be eliminated or the temperature rise of the optical components in the lens barrel can be suppressed.

Further, in the solar telescope of the present invention, a part of the sunlight passing through the first sealing window travels near the second axis after passing through the first plane mirror and the second plane mirror. The light is reflected by the fourth plane mirror and is emitted from the third sealing window. Then, the tracking device receives the sunlight emitted from the third sealing window, and based on the received light result, an element selected from the first sealing window, the first plane mirror, and the second plane mirror. Drive to track the sun. That is, in tracking, the optical system related to the pointing of the sun is shared with the case of solar observation, and the third plane mirror and the fourth plane mirror are immobile in the direction of gravity, that is, in the vertical direction, and are affected by gravitational deformation. Since there is no sun image, the tracking of the sun is performed using a solar image having no fluctuation factors. Therefore, accurate tracking of the sun becomes possible.

That is, according to the solar telescope of the present invention,
Accurate solar observation is possible regardless of whether it is whole or part.

In the solar telescope of the present invention, the third plane mirror and the second sealing window may be held so as to be integrally rotatable around the second axis as a center axis.

According to this, it is possible to change the emission direction of the sunlight for solar observation. Therefore, when performing various measurements in the sun observation, measuring instruments corresponding to each measurement are arranged around and the sunlight is emitted toward a desired measuring instrument to be used, thereby performing various measurements. It can be done easily.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a solar telescope according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a solar telescope according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, this solar telescope
(A) a sealing window W1 that is held by the holding member 11 and transmits sunlight from the sun, and (b) is held so as to be integrally rotatable with the sealing window W1 about an axis EL extending in the horizontal direction as a central axis. The normal of the reflection surface held by the member 11 is the axis EL.
And a plane mirror M1 intersecting at an angle of 45 degrees and reflecting the sunlight through the sealing window W1 in the horizontal direction, and (c) the sealing window W1 and the plane mirror M1 with the axis AZ extending in the vertical direction as the central axis. It is held by the holding member 12 so as to be integrally rotatable, the normal to the reflection surface intersects the axis AZ at an angle of 45 degrees, and the sealing window W
Plane mirror M2 for reflecting the light to be measured through the first mirror 1 vertically downward
And (d) arranged at a position that has a central axis of the reflection surface that is held by the holding member 13 and coincides with the axis AZ and that can receive a part of the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M2, and forms a solar image. And (e) a concave mirror M3 disposed in an optical path between the concave mirror M3 and the imaging position, which is held by a holding member 15 rotatably held by a holding member 14 about the axis AZ. (F) a sealing window W2 which is held by the holding member 14 and transmits the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M4, and (g) which is held by the holding member 16. Is held between the plane mirror M2 and the plane mirror M4 in the vertical direction, occupies an area included in the area of the plane mirror M4 when viewed from the vertical direction, and is reflected by the reflection mirror M2. Was a part of the sunlight does not reach the concave mirror M3 of the sunlight plane mirror M5 to reflect the horizontal direction,
(H) a sealing window W3 that is held by the holding member 16 and transmits the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M5. Here, the sealing windows W1 to W3 and the holding members 11 to 14, 16
Forms a closed space. The holding member 13 and the holding member 16 are fixed to the fixing member 22 by the holding member 21.

Further, the solar telescope of the present embodiment comprises: (i)
A rotation drive mechanism 31 for rotating the holding member 11 about the axis EL, (j) the holding member 11 and the holding member 12
(K) a rotation drive mechanism that integrally rotates the holding member 14 about the axis AZ, a rotation drive mechanism 32 that integrally rotates the holding member 14 about the axis AZ, and (l) a sealing window. A tracking telescope 50 that observes the sunlight emitted from W3 and outputs the observation result, and (m) rotationally drives the rotation driving mechanisms 31 and 32 to track the sun based on the observation result from the tracking telescope 50. And the rotation drive mechanism 3 so that sunlight is emitted toward the observation device 40.
3 further includes a processing device 55 for instructing rotation driving.

In the solar telescope of this embodiment, the sealing window W1
, The sunlight enters the plane mirror M1 at right angles, and passes through the sealing window W1, enters the plane mirror M1, is reflected by the plane mirror M1, and its optical path is set to the axis EL. Subsequently, the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M1 enters the plane mirror M2 and enters the plane mirror M
2 and its optical path is set to the axis AZ.
In this way, the sunlight reflected by the plane mirror M2 travels along the axis AZ, and most of the sunlight is concave mirror M except for the rear surface of the reflection surface of the plane mirror M4 or the part reaching the plane mirror M5.
Reach 3 The concave mirror M3 reflects the sunlight so that the observation device 40 forms a solar image. The sunlight reflected by the concave mirror enters the plane mirror M4, is reflected in the horizontal direction (rightward on the paper surface), exits through the sealing window W2 to the observation device 40, and forms a solar image with the observation device 40. Image. The observation device 40 observes the entire sun and a part of the sun by observing the formed solar image.

By the way, in the solar telescope of this embodiment,
A sealed space is formed by the sealing windows W1 to W3 and the holding members 11 to 14 and 16, and the plane mirror M1, the plane mirror M
2. Optical components such as a concave mirror M3, a plane mirror M4, and a first plane mirror M5 are housed. Therefore, by evacuating the inside of the lens barrel, which is a closed space, or by filling the lens barrel with helium gas or the like and using it as a heat conversion medium, blurring of the solar image due to uneven temperature of air in the lens barrel can be prevented. It is possible to eliminate or suppress the temperature rise of the optical components in the lens barrel, and the observation device 40 enables accurate sun observation regardless of whether it is the whole sun or a part of the sun. . The observation result by the observation device 40 is supplied to the processing device 55 and processed.

Further, in the solar telescope of the present invention, similarly to the above, of the sunlight passing through the sealing window W1, the plane mirror M1, and the plane mirror M2 in sequence, the light traveling near the axis AZ and reaching the plane mirror M5. Is reflected in the horizontal direction by the plane mirror M5 and emitted from the sealing window W3. The tracking telescope 50 receives the sunlight from the sealing window W3 and supplies the observation result to the processing device 55. The processing device 55 detects the sun position based on the observation result of the tracking telescope 50 and instructs the rotation driving mechanisms 31 and 32 to perform rotation driving in order to track the sun.
Then, he continues to capture the sun with the Nasmyst mount method. Note that the sun observation method for tracking includes observation of the sun rim, observation of a sunspot, observation of dividing the solar image into four parts, and measuring the balance of sunlight intensity in each divided area.

In the tracking observation in this embodiment, the plane mirror M1 and the plane mirror M2, which are optical systems related to the pointing of the sun, are shared with the case of the sun observation.
4 and the plane mirror M5 are immovable in the direction of gravity, that is, in the vertical direction, and are not affected by gravitational deformation. Therefore, the sun is tracked using a solar image having no fluctuation factors with respect to the solar image at the time of solar observation. become. Therefore, accurate tracking of the sun is possible.

In FIG. 1, the case of one type of observation device 40 has been described, but as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to perform solar observations with the (species) observation devices 41 to 48. As such an observation device, a slit-type spectroscope, a screen projection device for the whole image of the sun, a spectrum projector, a Lyot filter measurement device, a band-pass filter measurement device, a Fabry-Perot measurement device, etc. are used according to the observation purpose. Is done. As shown in FIG. 2, the observation devices 41 to 48 are radially arranged around the lens barrel (more precisely, the holding member 14) of the solar telescope of the present embodiment.

Then, the processing device 55 directs the rotation driving mechanism 3 toward the observation device (observation device 41 in FIG. 2) corresponding to the observation purpose so that sunlight is emitted from the sealing window W2.
3 is instructed to rotate, and the holding member 14 is driven to rotate about the axis AZ as a central axis.

As described above, when performing various desired measurements in solar observation, various measurements can be easily performed by emitting sunlight toward a measuring instrument corresponding to each measurement.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified. For example, in the tracking of the Nasmyst gantry method, the sun image formed on the observation device is rotated according to the tracking by tracking, and an image rotator for correcting the image rotation is provided, for example, in FIG. It may be arranged between W2 and the observation device 40.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the solar telescope of the present invention, a sealed space is formed by the sealing window and the sealing member, and optical components are arranged in the sealed space to constitute the telescope. At the same time, the solar tracking observation is performed using a solar image having no variation factor with respect to the solar image at the time of solar observation. Therefore, it is possible to provide a solar telescope capable of highly accurate solar observation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a solar telescope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of arrangement of measuring instruments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a solar telescope (using a cirostat) of Conventional Example 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a solar telescope (couple telescope system) of Conventional Example 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 to 17 holding member (sealing member) 31 to 33 rotation drive mechanism 40 to 48 observation device 50 tracking telescope 55 processing device M1, M2, M4, M5 plane mirror M3 concave mirror W1 to W3 sealing window

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first sealing window through which sunlight from the sun is transmitted, and a first sealing window extending in a horizontal direction is rotatably held integrally with the first sealing window about a first axis as a center axis. And a first plane mirror that intersects the first axis with the first axis at an angle of 45 degrees and reflects sunlight through the sealing window in a horizontal direction, and a vertical plane extending in a vertical direction. The sealing window and the first plane mirror are rotatably held integrally with the second axis about a second axis as a central axis, and a normal of a reflection surface intersects the second axis at an angle of 45 degrees, A second plane mirror that vertically reflects the light to be measured through a sealing window, and a central axis of a reflection surface that matches the second axis, and sunlight reflected by the second plane mirror A concave mirror that is arranged at a position where it can receive a part of the image, and forms a solar image at a predetermined image forming position; Is disposed in an optical path between the position,
A third plane mirror that reflects the sunlight from the concave mirror in the horizontal direction, a second sealing window that transmits the sunlight reflected by the third plane mirror, and the second plane mirror with respect to the vertical direction. It is arranged between the third plane mirror and occupies an area included in the area of the third plane mirror when viewed from the vertical direction, and reaches the concave mirror in sunlight reflected by the second reflection mirror A fourth plane mirror that reflects a part of the sunlight that is not reflected in a direction different from the vertical direction, and a third plane that transmits the sunlight reflected by the fourth plane mirror.
And the first sealing mirror housing the first plane mirror, the second plane mirror, the concave mirror, the third plane mirror, the fourth plane mirror, and the fifth plane mirror. , The second sealing window,
And a sealing member forming a sealed space together with the third sealing window; and receiving sunlight reflected by the fourth plane mirror, and based on a light receiving result, the first sealing window, the first 1 plane mirror,
And a tracking device that drives an element selected from the second plane mirror to track the sun. 2. The sun according to claim 1, wherein the third plane mirror and the second sealing window are held so as to be integrally rotatable about the second axis as a center axis. telescope.