Space

China’s enormous radio telescope to serve all scientists from April

The giant radio telescope became fully operational in 2019.

Published

6 years ago

January 4, 2021

Following the unfortunate accident at the Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico, scientists began to search for a new telescope with similar features. The new address was found: FAST Telescope in China.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), also known as Tianyan or “Eye of Heaven,” will begin to receive observation applications from scientists all around the world starting on April 1st, according to Global Times.

Foreign scientists will be able to submit their applications to China’s National Astronomical Observatories online, Xinhua News Agency reported. After review, observation time will be allotted to global astronomers this year, said FAST’s chief engineer Jiang Peng.

The Chinese observatory’s massive size is equivalent to 30 standard football pitches, and it was come into service on January 11, 2020.

Photo: Xinhua

China’s FAST telescope and Arecibo

Regarding the scientific works in the area, more than 240 pulsars has been discovered so far, the National Astronomical Observatories reported.

The complex in China is the world’s largest single-dish radio observatory and the only one that can do what Arecibo has done.

As for the 305-meter Arecibo Observatory, we reported that it had received $8 million approved to help for reconstruction.

The fund is not enough to mend the telescope; however, it can encourage some in the US government to allot the extra funding required to resuscitate the Observatory.