China Exclusive: China starts building world's largest radio telescope

2008-12-26 18:54:55

http://english.china.com/zh_cn/news/society/11020309/20081226/15255407.html

GUIYANG, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- China officially started construction of
a Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the largest
in the world, in a remote southwest region on Friday.

Preparation and research for the project took some 14 years.

The dish-like telescope, as large as 30 football fields, will stand in
a region of typical Karst depressions in Guizhou Province when it's
done in 2013.

Karst depressions are usually located in regions plentiful in
limestone and dolomite, where groundwater has enlarged openings to
form a subsurface drainage system.

The facility will greatly improve China's capacity for astronomical
observation, according to the National Astronomical Observatory (NAO),
the major developer of the program.

FAST's main spherical reflector will be composed of 4,600 panels. Its
observation sensitivity will be 10 times more powerful than the 100-m
aperture steerable radio telescope in Germany. Its overall capacity
will be 10 times larger than what is now the world's largest (300 m)
Arecibo radio telescope developed by the United States, according to
Nan Rendong, the chief scientist of the project and an NAO researcher.

The project, costing more than 700 million yuan (102.3 million U.S.
dollars), will allow international astronomers and scientists to
discover more of the secrets of the universe based on cutting-edge
technologies, said Zhang Haiyan, an NAO official in charge of
construction.

Scientists have so far observed only 1,760 pulsars, which are strongly
magnetized spinning cores of dead stars. With the help of FAST, they
could find as many as 7,000 to 10,000 within a year, Nan said.

Pulsars have allowed scientists to make several major discoveries,
such as confirmation of the existence of gravitational radiation as
predicted by the theory of general relativity.

FAST could also be a highly sensitive passive radar to monitor
satellites and space debris, which would be greatly helpful for
China's ambitious space program.

The telescope could also help to look for other civilizations by
detecting and studying communication signals in the universe.

Chinese scientists and officials selected Dawodang, Pingtang County as
the site, where a Karst valley will match the shape of the huge bowl-
like astronomical instrument.

The sparsely populated, underdeveloped region will provide a quiet
environment to ensure the electromagnetic waves, the crucial
requirement of operation, are not interrupted by human activities.

Construction of a new residential area about 60 km away also began on
Friday to relocate 12 households. By 2013, when the telescope is to be
in operation, all 61 farmers will move to their new houses in Kedu
town, with farmland allocated by the government.

"The project is beyond my imagination. I'm glad to see that an
ordinary old guy like me could contribute to the country's science
program," said Yang Chaoli, 68.

The project was approved by the National Development and Reform
Commission, the country's top planning body, the Ministry of Science
and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and its subordinating
NAO, Guizhou Province and other departments.