BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- China has made progress in scientific data simulation for the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), also known as the Xuntian Space Telescope, marking a crucial step in preparing for the country's flagship space astronomy facility.
A collaborative Chinese research team built an end-to-end observation simulation suite for both the telescope's main optical system and various observation terminals.
The suite achieved high-quality, pixel-level simulation of observation data, which will be used for the comprehensive evaluation of the telescope's overall performance.
The research was published online Wednesday in a special issue of the journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, and is expected to lay the foundation for high-yield original scientific output after the telescope is launched.
The CSST is a major space astronomy facility planned as part of China's manned space program. Equipped with a 2-meter-aperture primary mirror, the telescope features a large field of view, high image quality and wide waveband coverage.
It is expected to facilitate major scientific discoveries across various astrophysical fields, including cosmology, the study of galaxies, the Milky Way, stars and planets, according to the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), which led the study.
Scientific simulation is an indispensable procedure prior to the launch. It acts as a "digital rehearsal" for the mission, generating mock data to validate the process flow and optimize observation strategies before the launch.
"The work provides clear expectations for the CSST's capabilities in the direct imaging of exoplanets, offering technical guarantees for scientific output in this frontier field," said Ji Jianghui, a researcher at the Purple Mountain Observatory.
Li Cheng, a professor at the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University, noted that the papers systematically demonstrated the instrument performance and simulated data of the telescope's modules.
"This offers reliable data support for the development of data processing systems, scientific pre-research, and post-launch scientific operations," Li added.
The CSST is an important component of China's space station. After launch, it will fly independently in the same orbit as the space station and can dock with the station for supply, maintenance and upgrades. ■
