Professor Zhengyang Li, from Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, recently visited Sydney and Canberra over a month as part of the ACAMAR Visiting Fellowship program. During his time in Australia, Professor Li served as visiting professor of Macquarie University, worked with Professor Jon Lawrence and Professor Simon Ellis, and visited The Australian National University (ANU), The University of Sydney (USyd), The University of New South Wales (UNSW).
UNSW Collaboration: during his time at UNSW, Prof Li delivered a presentation titled ‘NIAOT Astronomical Activities in domestic and Antarctic plateaus’. He also delivered this presentation at an Astralis Seminar. The report consisted of four parts: 1) Introduction to Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology (NIAOT), including an overview of current major projects. 2) Exploration and progress in Antarctic astronomical science. 3) Optical designs for astronomical telescopes, such as Mephisto and a 4.2-meter optical astrometry telescope. 4) Progress on domestic and international journals, such as ‘The Innovation’ and ‘Astronomical Techniques and Instruments’, as well as the PIFI international exchange program. As a participant in these projects, Prof Li provided a comprehensive introduction to advancements in his field of research on astronomical technology along with his contributions to journal work.
While at UNSW, Prof Michael Ashley also invited Prof Li to visit his laboratory, engaging in extensive discussions about their collaboration on the Kunlun Station project in Antarctica. They had productive conversations regarding the maintenance and updates of the Antarctic plateau energy platform, as well as addressing issues related to modifying and processing data from the near-infrared telescope used during the previous expedition season at Dome A in Antarctica’s polar day. Additionally, they collaborated on an article titled ‘System design for a wide field-of-view Near-Infrared Telescope for Dome A in Antarctica’, which is due to be published in PASP.
AAO Collaboration: during his time at AAO (Macquarie University), Prof Li was truly impressed by the exceptional instrumentation work carried out by Prof Jon Lawrence’s team. This included a series of important instrument projects for ESO, guided by Prof Mark Casali. Throughout his visit, Prof Li collaborated with Dr Simon Ellis on designing relay optics for the Lowell Discovery Telescope for the next-generation OH-suppressing near-infrared spectrograph. Prof Li will continue this collaboration upon his return home.
USyd and ANU Collaboration: during the same period, Prof Li also had the opportunity to visit the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre (AITC) and the Sydney Astro-photonic Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL), where he engaged with A/Prof Tony Travouillon and Prof Anna Moore.
Overall, Prof Li wishes to thank the following people for their care and effort during his Fellowship: Dr. Israel Vaughn, Dr. Nian Jiang, Dr. Brent Miszalski, Dr. Qingshan Yu, Dr. Adeline Wang, Dr. Yizheng Wang, Summer Luo, and Dr. Jessica Zhen.
