Research report related to astronomy

I. History and Present Situation of Astronomy Astronomy is a science that studies the formation, structure, activities and evolution of celestial bodies in the universe. It plays an irreplaceable role in exploring the natural laws in the universe, promoting the development of other natural disciplines, promoting technological progress, studying the space environment of the sun and the earth, and improving the quality education of the whole people. As a first-class discipline, astronomy is one of the most active frontier disciplines in contemporary times. Astronomy is an ancient discipline, and its research object is celestial bodies in the vast space. For thousands of years, people have measured the position of celestial bodies by observing this "passive" method, studied their structures, and explored their laws of movement and evolution. The development of astronomy has had a great influence on human's view of nature. 16 and 17 centuries, Heliocentrism of Copernicus liberated natural science from theology, and human understanding of the universe achieved its first leap. Since the middle of the 20th century, with the rapid development of astronomical observation technology, astronomy, especially astrophysics, has become more and more active, becoming the undisputed protagonist and leading discipline in the second leap of human understanding of the universe. Astronomers regard the universe as a unique laboratory, which can realize experimental conditions that cannot be realized on earth, test known physical laws and discover new physics. In the process of development, astronomy has promoted and infiltrated almost all disciplines of natural science, resulting in interdisciplinary research such as astrochemistry, astrobiology, astrogeodynamics and space meteorology. The demand for technology in astronomical research, such as the measurement of the precise position, brightness and fine structure of distant dim celestial bodies, the high-precision measurement of time, the large-scale statistical analysis and large-scale numerical calculation of various physical, chemical and evolutionary processes, has strongly promoted the development of high-tech and methods. Astronomy plays an important role in science education. The questions in astronomical research include some basic questions that human beings need to answer: When did the universe originate? How did it evolve? What is its ultimate fate? Is there life on other planets? How will the universe affect human development? Astronomy provides a window for the public to understand the position of human beings in the universe and the nature of science. Astronomy covers almost all natural phenomena, from invisible elementary particles to the essence of space and time. It provides a framework for explaining the unity of natural phenomena and the evolution of scientific theories to explain these phenomena. Taken together, these attributes make astronomy the best tool to improve public scientific awareness and introduce scientific concepts and scientific thinking processes to students. The remarkable characteristics of the development of contemporary astronomy are the rapid improvement of observation methods and the development of all-band research. In recent ten years, a series of large-scale advanced equipment have been put into use in the world, which has improved the spatial resolution of astronomical observation by 10~ 100 times, and improved the ability to detect faint celestial bodies by nearly 100 times, thus creating a brand-new era of all-band research. The open database being established and improved, the application of powerful high-speed computers and the successful development of a large number of efficient astronomical software have greatly accelerated the process of global astronomical data sharing, astronomical data processing and theoretical research. With the acceleration of astronomical research, a large number of important discoveries and research results have emerged, which greatly stimulated the public's scientific enthusiasm and became the focus of media attention. At the turn of the century, developed countries, on the one hand, established their own astronomical development strategies, on the other hand, actively strengthened international cooperation to carry out astronomical research. China is one of the countries with the earliest development of astronomy in the world. It has made many world-leading achievements in astronomical observation and research, but it has stagnated in modern times and lagged behind the West. From the early 20th century to the 1950s, there were two universities in China that trained astronomical talents. 19 17 cheeloo university was established, and the Department of Astronomy and Computing was established. 1926 The Department of Mathematics of Sun Yat-sen University was expanded into the Department of Mathematical Astronomy, and the Observatory of Sun Yat-sen University was built in 1929. 1947 the astronomy department of sun yat-sen university was separated from the mathematics astronomy department. After the founding of New China, in 1952, teachers from the astronomy department of Sun Yat-sen University and the astronomy department of cheeloo university were concentrated, and the astronomy department of Nanjing University was established. In the autumn of the same year, enrollment began, which became the cradle of astronomy education in New China. From 65438 to 0960, the Department of Astronomy of Beijing Normal University and the Department of Astrophysics of Peking University Geophysics were established successively. Together with the Department of Astronomy of Nanjing University, they undertook the task of delivering new strength to the astronomical team in urgent need of expansion. From 65438-0978, the Astrophysics Center was established by the Chinese University of Science and Technology, focusing on scientific research and postgraduate training. 1998 and in 2000, the Department of Astronomy and Applied Physics of China University of Science and Technology and the Department of Astronomy of Peking University were established respectively. Together with the Department of Astronomy of Nanjing University and the Department of Astronomy of Beijing Normal University, it has become the backbone of training astronomical professionals in China. At present, about 15 universities in China have established astronomical teaching or research institutions. Astronomy education before 1966 was greatly influenced by the Soviet Union in curriculum and training methods, with fine division of majors and emphasis on basic courses. Taking the Department of Astronomy of Nanjing University as an example, 1954 established three major directions of astrophysics, astromechanics and astrometry, and increased the major direction of radio astronomy from 1958. The curriculum of students studying in different directions varies greatly. Since the 1990s, astronomical education units have carried out in-depth astronomical education reform, offering courses in accordance with the first-class discipline of astronomy in undergraduate teaching, broadening and consolidating the foundation, and strengthening the construction of laboratories and libraries. At present, the number of students enrolled and graduated from astronomy major in China is about 60~80 each year. Some graduates (about 30% ~ 40%) are employed by national defense, education, scientific research, popular science, computer and other units and enterprises in addition to continuing to study for graduate degrees in this major. Astronomy in colleges and universities undertakes the dual tasks of training and transporting astronomical talents and scientific research for the country. However, due to historical reasons, the research team and observation equipment of astronomy in China are mainly concentrated in the Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientific research team in colleges and universities is small, and senior researchers account for about 20% of the national scientific research team. Another major deficiency of modern astronomical research in China universities is the lack of equipment for experiments, observation and large-scale calculation. In contrast, almost all universities in developed countries in the world have astronomy disciplines, and the astronomy disciplines of first-class universities are often the first-class scientific research and education institutions in the international astronomy community. Especially in recent years, many foreign universities have established astronomy departments or carried out astronomical research and education projects (for example, 65,438+00% college students in the United States took astronomy classes before graduation). The scale and popularization of astronomy in Chinese universities are far behind the international scientific development trend, so we must make strategic arrangements to catch up. In addition to professional education, astronomy in colleges and universities also undertakes the task of offering astronomy elective courses for all college students. According to incomplete statistics, at present, about 50 colleges and universities offer astronomy elective courses, and college students who receive astronomy education every year account for about 5% of the total number of students in school. Some middle schools also offer astronomy elective courses. However, in some schools, astronomy education tends to shrink due to the lack of teachers. Compared with the astronomy courses generally offered in foreign universities, the quality and quantity of astronomy popularization education in Chinese universities need to be improved urgently. Second, the demand of the country and society for astronomy undergraduates. Since the founding of New China 50 years ago, colleges and universities have trained a large number of outstanding talents in astronomy and related disciplines, many of whom have become academic leaders and backbones in this research field. In the next few years, with the increasing investment in astronomical research, the use of some large and medium-sized astronomical equipment and the needs of aerospace and national defense construction, the demand for high-quality astronomical talents will increase obviously. Under the new situation, especially under the general trend of international cooperation and competition, employers put forward higher requirements for students' knowledge structure, innovation and practical ability, teamwork spirit and practical level. 2/kloc-0 Since the beginning of the century, astronomy education has developed rapidly, and the enrollment scale of undergraduate and graduate students has expanded rapidly. However, due to the limitation of discipline scale, a considerable number of undergraduate students in astronomy have not only engaged in basic and applied research in astronomy and related majors, but also entered other fields of employment. The educational concept and training system of colleges and universities should keep pace with the times, and put forward the development ideas and innovative models of astronomy education suitable for China's national conditions to promote the healthy development of astronomy education in China. Three. Objectives and Measures of Astronomy Major Reform The strategic goal of the long-term development of astronomy in Chinese universities is to form a high-level scientific research and personnel training team that is competitive in the international frontier and conforms to China's current situation, and at the same time build a number of high-performance experimental, observation and computing facilities for astronomical research and personnel training in universities. The focus of astronomy discipline in colleges and universities is discipline construction. The teaching reform and innovation of astronomy mainly involves the cultivation of teachers, the reform of teaching contents and methods, and the construction of a good research and teaching environment. In all the measures taken and projects carried out, we should emphasize the alliance between universities, give full play to the talent advantages of universities, and cooperate closely with astronomical units of the Academy of Sciences. To this end, we put forward the following suggestions: (1) Support universities, especially those without astronomy departments, to develop astronomy for a long time, and gradually establish physical astronomy departments, mathematical astronomy departments and astronomy research centers. Form a good environment for scientific research and personnel training in qualified universities. Key universities have the responsibility and obligation to help ordinary universities develop astronomy in terms of teachers, personnel training and scientific research, expand the scale of astronomy teaching and research, and enhance the overall strength. Strengthen and support the opening of various astronomical elective courses and popular science lectures in more colleges and universities. (2) Improving teachers' quality is the key to ensure the quality of education. High-quality astronomy education must rely on first-class teachers. It is urgent to improve the professional quality and teaching level of young teachers after completing the alternation of old and new astronomy education teams. In addition to the gap between young teachers and old teachers in work experience and attitude, young teachers are not optimistic about their professional quality and ability. Many of them have heavy teaching tasks and have no time and opportunity to get on-the-job training and improvement, so it is difficult to have the energy to creatively complete teaching contents and tasks. Colleges and universities should plan to send young teachers with development potential to first-class scientific research institutions at home and abroad for further study and cooperative research, and create a relaxed academic environment so that they can teach with peace of mind. Universities with astronomy departments and education departments can establish partnerships so that scientists, educators and experienced teachers can successfully design astronomy-based science courses for future astronomy education teachers. (3) Training of compound talents. The training mode of astronomical talents has gradually changed from junior college education to general education. A wide range of knowledge and good scientific literacy are favorable factors for students to find jobs and work smoothly. Therefore, astronomy education should be based on the general education of big science, and at the same time, it can't lose the characteristics of this major. The broadening of knowledge should not be at the expense of students' professional foundation. Astronomy education in colleges and universities should coordinate the relationship between broadening the scope and strengthening the foundation, optimize the curriculum system, arrange the knowledge structure reasonably, and pay special attention to strengthening the cultivation of students' quality and ability. (4) Integrate national astronomical teaching and scientific research resources to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Due to the small scale of astronomical research team, the separation between Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education leads to the waste of astronomical education talents and equipment. In order to improve this situation, the National Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University jointly established the Beijing Joint Astrophysics Center, and the East China Astronomy and Astrophysics Center jointly established with Nanjing University. Give full play to their respective characteristics and advantages in research strength, personnel training, observation instruments and experimental equipment, and explore a new mode of joint training of high-level astronomical research talents between key universities and the Academy of Sciences, which has achieved good results, but the level of mutual cooperation and intersection is not deep enough. The cooperation between the astronomy department of the university and the observatory of the Academy of Sciences should be an important direction of the future astronomical education reform. In colleges and universities, from the perspective of talent training, it is also necessary to coordinate the construction of astronomy courses, teaching materials and teaching resources (such as establishing a network resource library for astronomy teaching in colleges and universities). (5) Strengthen astronomical practice and cultivate students' innovative spirit and practical ability. The traditional teaching and learning methods are mainly to cultivate students' logical thinking ability, and the ability to observe and explore needs to be acquired through early scientific research training. Astronomical practice is an important aspect of astronomical education. Undergraduates' theoretical foundation is not enough, so it is difficult to enter teachers' theoretical research topics. It is easier for undergraduates to enter scientific research from astronomical observation and data processing. Astronomical teaching units in colleges and universities should build astronomical observation bases and data analysis and processing laboratories to ensure the necessary astronomical practice content and hours, and exercise students' ability of independent observation and research when conditions permit. (6) Reform and update the teaching content. With the rapid development of astronomy, the updating speed of teaching content is getting faster and faster, and the gap between teaching practice and teaching materials is getting bigger and bigger. At present, astronomy teaching is generally short of excellent teaching materials. In recent years, some experts have been organized to compile astronomy textbooks, and some achievements have been made. However, due to the small scale of astronomy, small number of teachers and heavy scientific research tasks, the problem of teaching materials has not been fundamentally solved for a long time. In the future, we can properly consider using foreign excellent teaching materials directly, publishing more multimedia teaching materials, popularizing online teaching, encouraging teachers to compile and modify excellent teaching materials and other means to improve the quality of teaching materials and teaching.