The 10th Xinglong Observational Astrophysics Training Workshop was successfully held in August 13-19, 2018. The workshop was supported by Bureau of Personnel of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and National Astronomical Observatories of CAS (NAOC), and jointly hosted by the Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, NAOC, and the Xinglong Observatory, NAOC. More than forty participants attended the workshop, coming from 24 institutes and universities, e.g. NAOC, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Purple Mountain Observatory, Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, Nanjing University, Beijing Normal University, and Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

On the first day, a series of presentations were given in the NAOC headquarters. Prof. Zhenyu Wu, the deputy directorof Xinglong Observatory, gave a welcome speech and introduced the Xinglong Observatory. Then Prof. Xiaofeng Wang from Tsinghua University, Prof. Linhua Jiang from KIAA at Peking University, Profs. Xiaobin Zhang, Lijun Gou, Chenzhou Cui, and Associate Researcher Zhixia Shen from NAOC presented the scientific talks focusing on the frontiers of astronomical research, which has broadened the scientific view of the students.

During August 14-19, the workshop moved to the Xinglong Observatory. The participants toured the Xinglong Observatory, where LAMOST, the 2.16m telescope and the visitor center were introduced in detail by Yingwei Chen (NAOC). Combined with the reports introducing the telescopes, the participants got deeper understanding of the structure and operation of the optical astronomical telescopes. The workshop also arranged observation exercises for the participants to use the  2.16m, 85cm, 80cm and 60cm telescopes. On August 16 and 17, Prof. Liyun Zhang of Guizhou University and Prof. Dong Xu of NAOC introduced the study of late-type stars and high-energy transients in the time-domain era, respectively. They also instructed the participants to observe the targets at night. In order to promote the training, the participants are divided into five groups (one group in English), and each group was led by an instructor who helped the participants with the questions and problems they encountered. The participants showed high enthusiasm in learning and practising. Under the joint efforts of the participants and instructors, all the participants completed their data reduction and derived the light curves, which were the main task of the workshop.

There was a scientific discussion session in this training workshop. The participants took this chance to introduce their research work, and discussions followed each talk. This session promoted the scientific exchange among the participants. In the final assessment session, in addition to the closed-book exam, every participant also presented a short talk reporting their gains and experience during the workshop. Finally, the organizing committee issued the “Certificate of Completion” stamped by Bureau of Personnel of CAS for the outstanding students. The participants said they gain a lot in the workshop, and many of them hoped to continue to participate in the series of the training workshopsin the future.

The 11th Xinglong Observational Astrophysics Training Workshop which will be held in October 23-29, 2018, and the topic will be “Spectroscopic Observation and Data Reduction”. All are welcome.

Group Photo

Scientific Reports