标题： 光学天文学需要范式转变：液体镜面提供的解决方案及其在宇宙学中的应用示例 显示英文标题

标题： THE NEED FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT IN OPTICAL ASTRONOMY: A SOLUTION GIVEN BY LIQUID MIRRORS AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR APPLICATIONS TO COSMOLOGY

摘要： 我主张由于望远镜数量不足，光学天文学正面临一场危机，因此需要在望远镜技术方面进行范式转变。 只有放弃那种以玻璃主镜为主、能够完全操控的多用途望远镜，才能实现收集面积和观测时间/天文学家数量的大幅增加。 只有采用全新的技术，使我们能够建造大型且廉价的望远镜，才能实现真正的重大改进。 这可能会以牺牲多功能性为代价，并可能带来天文学家目前习惯的观测策略的变化。 我围绕一种新技术——液态镜面——来建立我的论点，尽管这种技术尚处于初级阶段，但已获得了可信度。 我认为即将到来的技术进步将使液态镜面望远镜（LMTs）几乎与传统望远镜一样多功能。 我讨论了配备新型光学校正器的LMTs所能访问的区域问题。 光学设计工作和探索性实验室工作表明，一台单一的LMT应该能够在45度大的区域内任何子区域获得高质量的图像。 作为LMT目前技术能实现的一个实际例子，我研究了一台正在建设中的5米液态镜面望远镜的预期性能，该望远镜专门用于宇宙学调查。 由于该仪器全年无休地进行为期四年的调查，其表现相当令人印象深刻：光谱光度测量在200\AA 带宽内，所有位于300平方度内的天体的信噪比为10时，B=24；宽波段光度测量可达B=27。 我给出了三个可以利用这些数据进行的宇宙学项目的例子。 显示英文摘要

摘要： I argue that there is a crisis in optical Astronomy due to a paucity of telescopes and thus the need for a paradigm shift in telescope technology. Large increases in collecting areas and observing time/astronomer are only possible if we forgo the fully steerable multipurpose telescope with a glass primary mirror that has dominated astronomical research. Only by adopting entirely novel technologies that allow one to build large and inexpensive telescopes can we achieve truly large improvements. This may come at the expense of versatility and may entail changes in the observing strategies astronomers are now accustomed to. I build my case around a new technology, liquid mirrors, that although in its infancy has achieved credibility. I argue that forthcoming technological improvements will make Liquid Mirror Telescopes (LMTs) nearly as versatile as conventional telescopes. I address the issue of the fields accessible to LMTs equipped with novel optical correctors. Optical design work and exploratory laboratory work indicate that a single LMT should be able to access, with excellent images, subregions anywhere inside fields as large as 45 degrees. As a practical example of what an LMT can do with the present technology, I examine the expected performance of a 5-m liquid mirror telescope, presently under construction, dedicated to a cosmological survey. It is rather impressive, due to the fact that the instrument works full-time on a four-year survey: Spectrophotometry reaches B=24 with a signal to noise ratio of 10 within a 200\AA bandpass for all objects within 300 square degrees and wide-band photometry reaches about B=27. I give three examples of cosmological projects that can be done with the data.