Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty-Seven

In an office at Nanshan Observatory, Xu Zhenyu was fascinated by the golden copper ball.The copper ball rests on a stainless steel tripod, covered with scarlet gold velvet. Xu Zhenyu has already been to the Provincial Institute of Archaeology, where he carefully read the printed materials sent by Liang Weizhou from the 103 rocket test site.These materials, with a large number of experimental data and detailed analysis, strongly proved that the copper ball-the information rocket was indeed launched by aliens on the earth.Now, Xu Zhenyu only has one thing on his mind, that is, where did these aliens go back?

If you want to reveal this secret, you can only find it from the copper ball.Because, the information of the "heavenly address" where they live is all on these stars on the copper ball. Thinking of this, Xu Zhenyu gently picked up the copper ball again.Under the copper ball, there is a small base.No stars can be seen on the bottom bracket, but four intersecting straight lines divide it into eight fan-shaped pieces. Inside the fan-shaped shapes are thick lines of varying lengths, which look a lot like a Chinese Eight Diagrams map.No one has figured out what kind of information the "Bagua Diagram" on the copper ball is.

Seeing the many recognized stars on the copper ball, Xu Zhenyu felt very kind.With the copper ball, the search for the exact "site" of aliens became practical.He recalled that when he had just deduced that the ancient star map was an alien star map, he and Ren Sihong together estimated where the aliens came from.Later, he speculated on the map alone that the aliens came from near the constellation Eridanus.At that time, all that could be relied on was the ancient star map copied by Lu Qian, and it was impossible to make it very accurate.Now with the copper ball, which itself is an extremely sophisticated celestial globe, it is completely possible to perform accurate calculations.

However, what formula is used for calculation?Xu Zhenyu searched all the relevant materials at home and abroad that he could get through the library network, but he couldn't find the whole set of formulas he needed.He finally discovered that although the calculation formulas in spherical astronomy are complete, no one has studied the calculation formulas for judging the position of another star based on the star map drawn on it.Since there is no shortcut, I have to derive these formulas by myself. He gently put the copper ball back on the tray of the stand, and found several books from the bookcase.He carried these books to the table and bent over his desk to study them.Sometimes, he looks at a book intently; sometimes, he frowns tightly, thinking hard about a problem; sometimes, he writes quickly on paper with a pencil; sometimes, he tears off a piece of paper he just finished writing... …

After get off work, he was still calculating there; when it was dark, he turned on the light and went to deduce again; when it was late at night, he was still thinking.Finally, he got a set of calculation formulas.He was very happy, and immediately found a star on the copper ball, and substituted various parameters into the formula for trial calculation.At dawn, he got the result, but the result was obviously wrong.He was very angry, because the results of the trial calculation showed that there was something wrong with the whole set of formulas. The door was pushed open, and Huang Jingzhi walked in.He looked at Xu Zhenyu's sleepy eyes and said:

"You haven't slept all night? You have to pay attention to your body." Xu Zhenyu said, "I'm in good health and I'm fine," and took the large pile of calculation papers to Professor Huang, and introduced him to the derivation process and the inconsistency with the actual situation. Professor Huang straightened his face and said: "Go to bed for me, come to me after a good night's sleep!" Xu Zhenyu smiled helplessly and left obediently. As soon as he went to work in the afternoon, Xu Zhenyu went to the director's office.Without waiting for Huang Jingzhi to ask, he took the initiative to say:

"I slept so soundly!" "So, it's time for me to study the derivation formula with you!" Huang Jingzhi smiled slightly. Xu Zhenyu sat in front of the high-legged desk, Huang Jingzhi took out his draft calculations and said to him: "The whole derivation is still correct, but here, in the third step of the calculation, the time factor should be taken into account, so that it can reflect that the stars are also constantly moving." "Ah!" Xu Zhenyu understood, "In this way, the formula will be much more complicated. After the formula is released, it must be calculated with a computer."

Huang Jingzhi nodded and said: "You also compile the flow chart and the program together." Three days later, Xu Zhenyu took a stack of paper full of calculation formulas and handed it to Huang Jingzhi.Huang Jingzhi was surprised: how did you do it so fast?The old professor looked up at him, and saw that his sunken eye sockets were bloodshot, and there was a resolute smile on the corner of his mouth. The old professor praised him while watching.After reading it, he said happily: "Go to the computer and try to calculate it immediately." Huang Jingzhi and Xu Zhenyu came to the calculation room of the observatory.Although it is called a computing room, there are no electronic computers.There is a terminal in the shape of an organ, which is connected to the Chujiang Electronic Computing Center through a dedicated line.

Xu Zhenyu sat in front of the terminal, feeling very restless.Whether this set of formulas is correct or not, and where the aliens come from, depends on the result of this calculation. Huang Jingzhi looked at him kindly, as if saying: "You can calculate with confidence." Xu Zhenyu put the prepared flow chart, the program written in BASIC language and the data used for calculation into the text recognition input device of the terminal one by one.A red signal light immediately lit up in front of his eyes, and the calculation began.In the Chujiang Electronic Computing Center, an electronic computer with 50 million calculations per second is installed.Although many units in the city use it for calculations through terminals at the same time, in Xu Zhenyu's view, this large computer seems to be serving him alone.This problem, which takes a month to calculate by hand, can be calculated by this electronic computer in 8 minutes.

A small green light came on, and a sheet of xerographic paper was sent from the output port of the terminal.Xu Zhenyu hurriedly took the copy paper, only to see two lines printed on it: He excitedly said to Professor Huang: "I didn't expect that the aliens came from the four stars of Tianyuan! This four stars of Tianyuan is exactly the star I have studied for many years." Huang Jingzhi raised his broad forehead, and his deep eyes shone with light.He said excitedly: "Xiao Xu, your calculation formula has expanded the calculation field of astronomy." "All of this was achieved under your guidance." Xu Zhenyu had a shy smile on his face.