FAST: World's Largest, Most Sensitive Radio Telescope Now Officially Operational In China

KEY POINTS

FAST Radio Telescope is the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope
Located in China, FAST is 2.5 times more sensitive than the second largest radio telescope
FAST identified 102 pulsars even during its trial period
Authorities expect FAST to make major scientific discoveries, especially in its first years

Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is now officially operational in China's Guizhou province. FAST now takes the place formerly held by Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory as the world's largest radio telescope.

Officially Operational

FAST Radio Telescope was completed back in 2016 but it has been undergoing commissioning since then. This January, officials announced that FAST is officially operational after a three-year trial, during which it already identified 102 new pulsars. That is already more than the total number of pulsars discovered by research teams in Europe and the United States during the same period.

FAST can, now, be used at its full capacity and will gradually open to astronomers from around the world. So far, about ten international scientists have used FAST.

According to officials, FAST has not just reached but exceeded the planned level of performance. They expect FAST to help make major scientific discoveries, especially in its first couple of years.

Some of its science goals include pulsar observations, a large scale neutral hydrogen survey, detection of interstellar communications signals, as well as two sky surveys that will each last about five years.

FAST

FAST's nickname is Tianyang, which means “Eye of Heaven" or “Eye of the Sky.” It is 2.5 times more sensitive than the second-largest radio telescope in the world and is capable of receiving 38 gigabytes of data per second.

Its precise sensitivity means that it can measure pulsars about 50 times more accurately than before, making it possible for humans to detect extremely low-frequency gravitational waves for the first time. Its wide sky coverage also expands the space range that radio telescopes can explore by four times.

Compared to the Arecibo Observatory that has a fixed shape, FAST is more flexible in that it can change its surface shape. Further, FAST also has a deeper dish, which allows it to have a wider field of view.

According to Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University scientist Li Kejia, with FAST, scientists will be able to discover more stars, cosmic phenomena, laws of the universe, and even extraterrestrial life.

As mentioned earlier, FAST was completed in 2016, 20 years after it was first proposed. It cost 1.2 billion Yuan or about $170 billion to build.