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

Abstract

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