Group Photo
On the afternoon of 26 April 2024, the opening ceremony of the "Peking University (PKU) 60-centimetre Telescope and Astronomy Teaching Practice Base" was held at the Xinglong Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC, CAS). In attendance were WANG Hongyan, Party Secretary of NAOC, LIU Jifeng, Director and Deputy Party Secretary of NAOC, WU Hong, Director of Xinglong Base of NAOC, LI Hongbin, Director of Xinglong Observatory and Senior Laboratory Technician of NAOC, LIU Kexin, Director of PKU Laboratory and Equipment Management Department, LIU Yulong, Party Secretary of PKU School of Physics, LIU Jianbo, Professor and Deputy Director of PKU Academic Affairs, CAO Qinghong, Professor and Vice Dean of PKU School of Physics, and other leaders and some faculty members of the Xinglong Observatory and PKU Astronomy attended the ceremony. Also attending as a special guest was WANG Yonggang, PKU alumnus, CTO of Innovation Works and Executive Director of the Artificial Intelligence Engineering Institute. The ceremony was hosted by ZHANG Huawei, Deputy Director of the Department of Astronomy (DoA) at PKU.
WU Xue-Bing
WU Xue-Bing, Associate Director of the Kavli Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA) and Director of DoA introduced the construction process of the telescope. With the support of PKU, the School of Physics, KIAA, NAOC, and the Xinglong Observatory, the 60-centimeter telescope project was officially launched in 2021 and was completed in October 2023. The telescope entered the trial observation phase after the successful first light observation on October 19, 2023. The telescope will play an important role in training talented bachelors and PhD students.
CHEN Jiansheng
LIU Jifeng LIU Kexin
LIU Yulong LIU Jianbo
CAO Qinghong WU Hong
CHEN Jiansheng, CAS academician, professor of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the founding director of DoA of PKU, sent a video to congratulate the ceremony, expecting that the cooperation between PKU and NAOC in scientific research and talent cultivation will be further deepened. LIU Jifeng, LIU Kexin, LIU Yulong, LIU Jianbo, CAO Qinghong, and WU Hong delivered speeches on behalf of NAOC and the relevant office of PKU, respectively, and congratulated on the successful completion of the 60-centimeter telescope. They expressed that astronomy is science based on observation, and experimental astronomy teaching plays a key and irreplaceable role in the training of astronomical talents. The completion of the 60-centimeter telescope will give a strong impetus to the quality of talent training in astronomy at PKU and is also an important manifestation of the deepening cooperation between the two units. It is hoped that the two units will cooperate more closely in the future, complement each other's strengths, cultivate more excellent astronomical talents, make better research achievements, and jointly promote the development of Chinese Astronomy.
Unveiling
WANG Hongyan, LIU Kexin, LIU Jifeng, and LIU Yulong unveiled the plaque for the PKU 60-centimetre Telescope and Astronomy Teaching Practice Base, witnessed by WANG Yonggang, LIU Jianbo, CAO Qinghong, WU Xue-Bing, WU Hong, LI Hongbin, ZHOU Zhizhong, JIANG Linhua, PENG Yingjie and WANG Ran.
Visiting the 2.16-meter optical telescope
Visiting the PKU 60-centimeter telescope
After the ceremony, the participants visited the Xinglong Base, had direct contact with the 2.16-meter optical telescope and the 60-centimeter telescope which had just been inaugurated, and learned a series of astronomical observations with great interest, and had a strong intuition of the rapid development of China's astronomical equipment. They expressed that they would contribute to speeding up the construction of a strong country in education, science and technology, and talents, and expected that China's astronomical career would move towards a more brilliant tomorrow.
PKU News: https://news.pku.edu.cn/xwzh/7da12c22938e47caa2844c2ef3d071a2.htm
