The National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC, ) is an astronomical research institute operated by

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

, along with

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO), is an astronomical observatory in Shanghai. It has a long history of astrometry, and also operates the Sheshan radio telescope as part of the Chinese VLBI array and the European VLBI Network (EVN). ...

Purple Mountain Observatory The Purple Mountain Observatory (), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing. Description The Purple Mountain Observatory was established in 1934 f ...

and

National Time Service Center The National Time Service Center (NTSC; ) has the task of generating, maintaining and broadcasting standard time in China. It is located in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Its predecessor was the Shaanxi Astronomy Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Scien ...

History and introduction

Founded on April 25, 2001, NAOC was formed through the merging of four

(CAS) observatories, three CAS observing stations and one CAS research centre. The Headquarters of the NAOC are situated in the northern Chaoyang District of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on the site of the former

Beijing Astronomical Observatory Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO) is an observatory located around 150 kilometres northeast of Beijing, China. It was founded in 1958 and is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Ac ...

(BAO), and take responsibility for all matters relating to the former BAO. Currently, NAOC has 7 astronomical research departments listed follows: * Optical Astronomy Research Department (光学天文研究部) * Radio Astronomy Research Department (射电天文研究部) * Galactic Astronomy & Cosmology Research Department (星系宇宙学研究部) * Moon & Deep Space Detection Research Department (月球与深空探测研究部) * Space Science Research Department (空间科学研究部) * Solar Astrophysics Research Department (太阳物理研究部) * Applied Astronomy Research Department (应用天文研究部) Besides apparatus like 2.16m optical telescope and 50m radio telescope, NAOC also operates the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopy Telescope (LAMOST) and one of the largest radio observatory, the

Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST; ), nicknamed Tianyan (, lit. "Sky's/Heaven's Eye"), is a radio telescope located in the Dawodang depression (), a natural basin in Pingtang County, Guizhou, southwest China. FAST ...

(FAST). The future China Space Station Telescope (CSST) will also be operated by NAOC. Editorial departments of

Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics ''Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all branches of astronomy and astrophysics. It was established in 1981 as ''Acta Astrophysica Sinica'' and published in Chinese. It was renamed ''Chin ...

(RAA) and China National Astronomy (中国国家天文) are located in NAOC.

Subordinate units

Direct subordinate units

NAOC currently have 4 direct subordinate units, with 2 astronomical observatory, 1 artificial satellite observing station and 1 astronomical instrument developing institute. * Yunnan Observatories, CAS, Yunnan Province * Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, CAS, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region * Changchun Observatory, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Jilin Province * Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technologies, CAS, Jiangsu Province

Observing stations

* Xinglong Observing Station, NAOC *

Huairou Solar Observing Station The Huairou Solar Observing Station is a solar observatory in China. It is situated ono the north bank of the Huairou Reservoir, in Huairou District, Beijing, about 60 km north of central Beijing. There are two telescopes. It is operated by the ...

, NAOC *Miyun Observing Station, NAOC *Ming'antu Observing Station, NAOC *Wulasitai Observing Station, NAOC *South America Observing Station, NAOC

Research highlights

Fast radio bursts (FRBs)

In 2019, FAST observation to

fast radio burst In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient radio pulse of length ranging from a fraction of a millisecond to 3 seconds, caused by some high-energy astrophysical process not yet understood. Astronomers estimate the average FRB rel ...

(FRB) event FRB180301 reveals that the origin of FRBs should be inside the magnetosphere of designated object. In 2020, another FRB event FRB200428, which was later confirmed to be originated from

magnetar A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field (∼109 to 1011 T, ∼1013 to 1015 G). The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.War ...

SGR J1935+2154, was observed in detail by FAST team. Research suggests that a low correlation between FRBs and magnetar X-ray burst.

Dark matter halo

In 2020, NAOC and its collaborators performed a numerical simulation to dark matter halo between galaxies. This GADGET-4 simulation, with a dynamic range over 30 magnitudes, plotted a clear structure of dark matter haloes with mass ranging from earth-size to cosmological scale. The simulation provides a detailed universe structure under L-CDM model.

International collaborations

NAOC took part in a wide range of International collaborations, include

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKA ...

(SKA),

Thirty Meter Telescope The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi. The TMT would become the largest visible-light telescope on Mauna Kea. S ...

(TMT),

Herschel Space Observatory The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telesc ...

, and Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS), etc. Meanwhile, several NAOC developing projects are also international collaborated, including FAST. NAOC also started cooperation with futuristic projects like Einstein probe (EP), CSST, etc.

References

External links

National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Astronomical Observatory Of China Astronomical observatories in China Organizations established in 2001 Research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences 2001 establishments in China