Purple mountain observatory

Built in 1934, the observatory was the only Observatory in China before liberation. It is known as "the cradle of modern Chinese astronomy".

There are many precious astronomical instruments in ancient China, as well as many modern instruments and equipment for measuring celestial bodies, such as the 60 cm catadioptric telescope and solar telescope made in China. Especially in the huimu collision in 1994, the collision prediction of purple Observatory was accurate. In addition, the recoverable satellite lost due to out of control engineering was successfully found in space. The observatory overlooks the whole city.

Zijinshan Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences

synonym

Zijinshan Observatory generally refers to the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Purple Mountain Observatory (Chinese Academy of Sciences) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is located on the purple mountain in Xuanwu District of Nanjing, adjacent to the Zhongshan scenic spot. It is the first modern astronomy research institution established by Chinese people, and is known as "the cradle of modern astronomy in China". Its predecessor was the Institute of astronomy, Academia Sinica, established in February 1928; Zijinshan Observatory was established in August 1934; and Zijinshan Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was established in May 1950. The establishment of the Zijinshan Observatory marks the beginning of modern astronomy research in China. Many branches and observatories of modern astronomy in China were born, established and expanded here.

According to the information on the Observatory's official website in December 2015, the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has three key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with 310 employees, 157 graduate students (including 77 masters and 80 doctoral students) and 12 postdoctoral students.

On March 28, 2017, the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was selected by the National Tourism Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences as "the first batch of China's top ten science and technology tourism bases".

On March 1, 2017, a new comet named "Zijinshan" was discovered at Zijinshan observatory.

On October 26, 2019, Chang Jin, a researcher at Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, won the first science award of the Chinese society of space sciences.

Historical evolution

Create background

In October 1913, Japan held a meeting of the heads of the observatories of Asian countries in Tokyo. They invited the observatories of the Church of France in Shanghai to represent China. The news spread that the whole country was in an uproar, especially among the intellectuals. At that time, Gao Lu, the director of the central observatory, vowed to build an observatory that could keep pace with Europe and the United States. Later, Gao Lu became French minister, and Yu Qingsong, director of the Department of astronomy of Xiamen University, took over. At that time, the Management Committee of the premier's Mausoleum proposed that the observatory must be designed according to the Chinese style. The Chinese style is mainly reflected in the roof and eaves, but the round roof is needed for astronomical observation. This thorny problem was handed over to the Jitai engineering department led by Yang Tingbao. The final built Zijinshan Observatory is located on the third peak of Zijinshan in the eastern suburb of Nanjing. The archway is made of rough stone with three rooms and four columns, covered with blue glazed tiles, and straddles on the high stone steps. The buildings are connected by stairways and plank roads. The platforms of each floor are made of national hooks. The foundation and external wall of the building are built with rough stone, which is simple and heavy, and is integrated with the rocks.

Development and evolution

In April 1927, the national government moved its capital to Nanjing. In order to promulgate the time service, it attached a current affairs committee to the education administrative committee and appointed Gao Lu, the Secretary of the interim government, to preside over it. After the establishment of Academia Sinica, the current affairs committee was renamed the observatory Preparatory Committee.

In February 1928, the Preparatory Committee of the observatory was divided into two research institutes: Astronomy and meteorology, and Gao Lu was employed as the director of the Astronomy Research Institute. In April of the same year, Gao Lu asked Li zongkan, an engineer of Nanjing Municipal Works Bureau, to design the building plan of the Observatory, and also went to the first peak of Zijin Mountain with his assistant to check and survey.

In August 1934, the Zijinshan Observatory was finally completed, and the inauguration ceremony was held on September 1.

In May 1935, Zijinshan Observatory discovered an asteroid for the first time, and the international planetary center named it "China" according to the wishes of Zijinshan observatory.

On August 23, 1937, affected by the Japanese War of aggression against China, the staff of Zijinshan Observatory were forced to leave Nanjing, then moved to Changsha, Guilin and Kunming.

On May 20, 1950, the Chinese Academy of Sciences took over the Zijinshan Observatory, which was officially established.

In 1953, the astrophysical group was established.

In 1957, the celestial evolution group was established.

In 1961, the stellar chamber was established, mainly engaged in stellar physics and evolution.

In 1958, the solar physics laboratory was established.

On November 16, 1982, China's first solar tower was built at the southern foot of Zijin Mountain, and it is also the only tower solar telescope in China.

In 1997, the Department of astrophysics was established.

In March 1999, it became one of the pilot units of the knowledge innovation project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 2009, China's first near earth object telescope was operated at Zijinshan observatory.

In 2011, it became one of the first batch of research institutions supported by "innovation 2020".

In July 2014, the former site of national Zijinshan Observatory was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council.

On March 28, 2017, the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was selected by the National Tourism Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences as "the first batch of China's top ten science and technology tourism bases".

Scientific research conditions

Equipment resources

Facilities and equipment

According to the information on the Observatory's official website in December 2015, Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has built seven field operational observatories, each of which operates 13.7m millimeter wave telescope, 1m near earth object telescope, space target and debris observation network composed of multiple sets of equipment, H  solar fine structure telescope, Solar Radio Spectrometer, near infrared solar spectrometer and other observation equipment; Among them, Delingha Observatory has mobile submillimeter wave telescope, space debris detection photoelectric telescope and other large astronomical observation equipment, while Xuyi Observatory has 1m / 1.2m near earth object detection telescope, space debris detection photoelectric telescope and other large astronomical equipment.

 

 

Collection resources

According to the information on the official website of the observatory Library in December 2015, the Zijinshan Observatory Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has more than hundreds of thousands of books and periodicals (bound and single edition), which is the largest and most comprehensive astronomical Library in East Asia.

 

The collection consists of two parts: astronomical literature and Chinese and foreign academic journals. The museum collects film star maps, astronomical publications in various carriers, and many important astronomical serial publications in western languages. Many of them have been collected completely since they were first published. They have important research and reference value, such as "monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical" which was first published in 1827 Society, the astronomic journal, which was founded in 1849, and Astrophysical Journal, which was founded in 1895, are the core journals in astronomy.

 

staff establishing

By the end of 2012, the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had 310 employees, including 255 scientific and technological personnel, 147 scientific and technological support personnel, including 3 academicians (Full-time), 51 researchers and senior engineers and technicians, 47 associate researchers and senior engineers and technicians, and 12 winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

 

Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (3): Chen Biao, Xiong Darun, Lu Shu

 

Scientific research department

According to the information on the official website of the observatory Library in December 2015, the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has four research departments and five laboratories. In addition, the Observatory has built and operated three key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

There are four research departments at the station level: dark matter and space astronomy research department, Antarctic astronomy and radio astronomy research department, applied celestial mechanics and space target and debris research department, planetary science and deep space exploration research department

 

Five station level laboratories: millimeter wave and submillimeter wave technology laboratory, dark matter and space astronomy laboratory, astrochemistry and Planetary Science Laboratory, CCD camera development laboratory, planetary science and deep space exploration laboratory

 

Key laboratories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (3): Key Laboratory of radio astronomy of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of space target and debris observation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of dark matter and space astronomy of Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

Field operational observation stations (7): Nanjing Zijinshan Science Park, Qinghai observation station, Xuyi astronomical observation station, Ganyu solar activity observation station, Honghe astronomical observation station, Yao'an astronomical observation station, Antarctic dom

Chinese PinYin : Zi Jin Shan Tian Wen Tai