The Kepler-9 system harbors three known transiting planets. The system holds significant interest for several reasons. First, the outer two planets exhibit a period ratio that is close to a 2:1 orbital commensurability, with attendant dynamical consequences. Second, both planets lie in the planetary mass "desert" that is generally associated with the rapid gas agglomeration phase of the core accretion process. Third, there exist attractive prospects for accurately measuring both the sky-projected stellar spin-orbit angles as well as the mutual orbital inclination between the planets in the system. Following the original Kepler detection announcement in 2010, the initially reported orbital ephemerides for Kepler-9 b and c have degraded significantly, due to the limited time base-line of observations on which the discovery of the system rested. Here, we report new ground-based photometric observations and extensive dynamical modeling of the system. These efforts allow us to photometrically recover the transit of Kepler-9 b, and thereby greatly improve the predictions for upcoming transit midtimes. Accurate ephemerides of this system are important in order to confidently schedule follow-up observations of this system, for both in-transit Doppler measurements as well as for atmospheric transmission spectra taken during transit.

To investigate a huge sample of data related to the Stellar Abundance and Galactic Evolution (SAGE) survey in more detail, we are performing a northern sky photometric survey named SAGES with the SAGE photometric system. This system consists of eight filters: Strömgren-u, SAGE-v, SDSS g, r, i, DDO-51, Hα wide and Hα narrow , including three Sloan broadband filters, three intermediateband filters, two narrow-band filters and one newly-designed narrow-band filter. SAGES covers ∼12 000 square degrees of the northern sky with δ > −5 • , excluding the Galactic disk (|b| < 10 • ) and the sky area 12 h

Sky surveys represent one of the most important efforts to improve developments in astrophysics, especially when using new photometric bands. We are performing the Stellar Abundance and Galactic Evolution (SAGE) survey with a self-designed SAGE photometric system, which is composed of eight photometric bands. The project mainly aims to study the stellar atmospheric parameters of ∼0.5 billion stars in ∼12 000 deg2 of the northern sky, which mainly focuses on Galactic astronomy, as well as some aspects of extragalactic astronomy. This work introduces the detailed data reduction process of the test field NGC 6791, including the data reduction of single-exposure images and stacked multi-exposure images, and properties of the final catalog.

Quasars behind the Galactic plane (GPQs) are important astrometric references and valuable probes of Galactic gas, yet the search for GPQs is difficult due to severe extinction and source crowding in the Galactic plane. In this paper, we present a sample of 204 spectroscopically confirmed GPQs at ∣b∣ < 20°, 191 of which are new discoveries. This GPQ sample covers a wide redshift range from 0.069 to 4.487. For the subset of 230 observed GPQ candidates, the lower limit of the purity of quasars is 85.2%, and the lower limit of the fraction of stellar contaminants is 6.1%. Using a multicomponent spectral fitting, we measure the emission line and continuum flux of the GPQs, and estimate their single-epoch virial black hole masses. Due to selection effects raised from Galactic extinction and target magnitude, these GPQs have higher black hole masses and continuum luminosities in comparison to the SDSS DR7 quasar sample. The spectral-fitting results and black hole mass estimates are compiled into a main spectral catalog, and an extended spectral catalog of GPQs. The successful identifications prove the reliability of both our GPQ selection methods and the GPQ candidate catalog, shedding light on the astrometric and astrophysical programs that make use of a large sample of GPQs in the future.

To evaluate performances of a back-illuminated scientific CMOS (sCMOS) camera for astronomical observations, comparison tests between Andor Marana sCMOS and Andor iKon-L 936 CCD cameras were conducted in a laboratory and on a telescope. The laboratory tests showed that the readout noise of the sCMOS camera is about half lower, the dark current is about 17 times higher, the dynamic range is lower in the 12-bit setting and higher in the 16-bit setting, and the linearity and bias stability are comparable relative to those of the CCD camera. In field tests, we observed the open cluster M67 with the sCMOS and CCD cameras on a 60 cm telescope. Unlike the CCD camera, the sCMOS camera has a dual-amplifier architecture. Since a 16-bit image of the sCMOS camera is composed of two 12-bit images sampled with 12-bit high gain and low gain amplifiers simultaneously, it is not real 16-bit output data. The evaluation tests indicated that the dual-amplifier architecture of the sCMOS camera leads to a decline of photometric stability by about six times around specific pixel counts. For photometry of bright objects with similar magnitudes that require high frame rates, the sCMOS camera under 12-bit setting is a good choice. Therefore, the sCMOS camera is fitted with survey observations of variable objects requiring short exposure times, mostly less than 1 s, and high frame rates. It also satisfies the requirements for an offset guiding instrument owing to its high sensitivity, high temporal resolution and high stability.

Smart sensors are emerging as a promising technology for a large number of application domains. This paper presents a collection of requirements and guidelines that serve as a basis for a general smart sensor architecture to monitor electricity meters. It also presents an electricity meter monitoring network, named EMMNet, comprised of data collectors, data concentrators, hand-held devices, a centralized server, and clients. EMMNet provides long-distance communication capabilities, which make it suitable suitable for complex urban environments. In addition, the operational cost of EMMNet is low, compared with other existing remote meter monitoring systems based on GPRS. A new dynamic tree protocol based on the application requirements which can significantly improve the reliability of the network is also proposed. We are currently conducting tests on five networks and investigating network problems for further improvements. Evaluation results indicate that EMMNet enhances the efficiency and accuracy in the reading, recording, and calibration of electricity meters.

A new retrieval algorithm of atmospheric refractive profile from ground‐based GPS signal bending and delays is developed. A more reasonable power system of the value function is proposed in optimizing the value function. Based on variational assimilation technique and a four‐parameter refractivity model, the atmospheric profile is inversed. The simulation results show fairly good agreement between the retrieved atmospheric refractive profiles with the input true values. The new method can also be applied to detecting the atmospheric duct layer in the planetary boundary layer.

Abstract:In order to solve two problems with the traditional optimization method of steel reinforced high strength high performance concrete (SRHPC) frame structures, a fuzzy mathematics and performance-based optimization method for the life-cycle cost of SRHPC frame structures is proposed. In the optimization program, quantitative seismic performance indicators of SRHPC frame structures are determined according to the experimental results of SRHPC columns. Furthermore, by considering the fuzzy reliability of structures under each performance level, the life-cycle optimization model of SRHPC frame structures can be established. In order to solve the problem of too many variables and constraints in the optimization process, a two-step optimization method is proposed. Finally, an optimization example is carried out through the MATLAB program to demonstrate the feasibility of this model.