Chinese solar telescope opens up a new era of space weather

Recently, Wuming Mountain in Daocheng County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, welcomed a technological event - the "2.5-meter Wide Field High Resolution Solar Telescope" (WeHoST) supporting project was officially launched. This observation station at an altitude of 4700 meters will become the location of the world's largest axisymmetric solar telescope, marking China's entry into the forefront of international research in solar physics and space weather.

The core advantage of WeHoST lies in the collaborative innovation of "large field of view" and "high resolution". Although traditional solar telescopes can capture tiny structures on the surface of the sun, their field of view is limited, making it difficult to comprehensively observe the overall evolution of the solar active region. WeHoST, with its axisymmetric mirror design, expands its field of view to a 7-degree circular field of view, which is 3-4 times that of existing devices. It can fully cover the solar active region and track the source dynamics of explosive phenomena such as flares and coronal mass ejections in real time. In terms of resolution, WeHoST achieves 0.1-0.3 arcseconds, which is one order of magnitude higher than existing devices. The surface adaptive optics system equipped with it can compensate for the interference of atmospheric turbulence on imaging in real time, ensuring high-precision data acquisition even under complex meteorological conditions. This technological breakthrough enables scientists to observe the brightness field, vector velocity field, and vector magnetic field of different layers of the solar atmosphere (photosphere, chromosphere, and low corona) at high resolution for the first time, providing key data support for studying the origin and energy release mechanism of solar eruptions.

The uniqueness of WeHoST lies not only in its ability to chase the sun, but also in its multifunctional design that allows for both day and night travel. By quickly switching the light path through a flat mirror, the telescope can switch from solar observation mode to night astronomical observation mode within 10 minutes, used for time-domain astronomical research such as supernovae, gravitational wave events, and supermassive black holes devouring stars. This "one mirror, multiple uses" design makes it the world's first telescope to combine high-resolution observation of the sun with the ability to observe night astronomy with a large field of view.

In terms of technical implementation, WeHoST has overcome multiple key challenges. For example, the main mirror receives up to 5000 watts of heat under direct sunlight, which is equivalent to heating 1 liter of water to boiling in a few seconds. To solve the heat dissipation problem, the development team arranged more than 200 air tube arrays on the back of the main mirror, which carried away heat by spraying cold air; The main focus adopts patented refrigeration technology to control the temperature difference within 2 degrees Celsius, ensuring long-term stable operation of the equipment.

The completion of WeHoST will greatly enhance China's space weather forecasting capabilities. The charged particle flow generated by solar eruptions may interfere with satellite navigation, communication systems, and even threaten the safety of astronauts. By monitoring the evolution of solar activity zones in real-time, WeHoST can provide key data for predicting catastrophic space weather and help build a more accurate warning system. In addition, the observational data from this telescope will drive cutting-edge research in solar physics. For example, by combining multi band imaging and magnetic field observations, scientists can delve into the physical mechanisms of solar eruptions and reveal the complete process of energy transmission from the interior of the sun to the corona. These achievements not only contribute to understanding the laws of stellar evolution, but also provide theoretical references for the development of nuclear fusion energy.

The establishment of WeHoST is an important part of building the "1+3" astronomical and archaeological cluster in Daocheng County. In recent years, Daocheng County has built major scientific and technological infrastructure such as the High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observation Station (Lasso) and the Circular Array Solar Radio Imaging Telescope (Thousand Eye Tianzhu) based on high-altitude areas such as Haizi Mountain, Wuming Mountain, and Powa Mountain. The addition of WeHoST will further strengthen Daocheng's international influence in fields such as solar physics and cosmic ray research, and promote the integrated development of local cultural and tourism industries and technology.

Ding Mingde, the project leader and professor at the School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Nanjing University, said: "The completion of WeHoST will shift China's solar physics research from 'following' to 'leading', contributing Chinese wisdom to human exploration of the mysteries of the universe. ”

China is writing a new chapter in the field of deep space exploration with continuous technological innovation, from the "Chinese Eye FAST" to the new generation solar telescope WeHoST. This "Chasing the Sun" project, located at an altitude of 4700 meters, is not only a scientific instrument, but also a technological lighthouse for human exploration of the universe and protection of our home on Earth.