The Xinglong 2.16-m Telescope: Current Instruments and Scientific Projects

TL;DR

The Xinglong 2.16-m telescope, China's first 2-meter class telescope, has been operational since 1989, equipped with various instruments, supporting numerous projects, and is being upgraded with new techniques like adaptive optics.

Contribution

This paper details the current instruments, scientific projects, and recent upgrades of the Xinglong 2.16-m telescope, highlighting its role in Chinese astronomy.

Findings

Over 40 ongoing observing projects annually.

The telescope hosts multiple instruments including BFOSC, OMR spectrograph, and HRS.

Recent upgrades include astro-frequency comb calibration and adaptive optics.

Abstract

The Xinglong 2.16-m reflector is the first 2-meter class astronomical telescope in China. It was jointly designed and built by the Nanjing Astronomical Instruments Factory (NAIF), Beijing Astronomical Observatory (now National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NAOC) and Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1989. It is Ritchey-Chr\'{e}tien (R-C) reflector on an English equatorial mount and the effective aperture is 2.16 meters. It had been the largest optical telescope in China for $\sim18$ years until the Guoshoujing Telescope (also called Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, LAMOST) and the Lijiang 2.4-m telescope were built. At present, there are three main instruments on the Cassegrain focus available: the Beijing Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (BFOSC) for direct imaging and low resolution ($R\sim500-2000$) spectroscopy, the spectrograph made by Optomechanics Research Inc. (OMR) for low resolution spectroscopy (the spectral resolutions are similar to those of BFOSC) and the fiber-fed High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS, $R\sim30000-65000$). The telescope is widely open to astronomers all over China as well as international astronomical observers. Each year there are more than 40 ongoing observing projects, including 6-8 key projects. Recently, some new techniques and instruments (e.g., astro-frequency comb calibration system, polarimeter and adaptive optics) have been or will be tested on the telescope to extend its observing abilities.