China's Largest Telescope Opened To World's Astronomers Learn About Extraterrestrial Life

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - China officially operates the largest telescope in the world. This telescope is planned to be used for space research, and help the hunt for extraterrestrial life.

The telescope was officially open to the public after three years of preparation and is expected to be used by astronomers around the world.

"All the telescope's technical indicators have been achieved and are according to plan. The hope is that this can be of use to the world," said China's National Development and Reform Commission, Shen Zhulin.

The telescope, called the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), is about 30 times the size of a football field, built in a mountainous area in the southwestern province of Guizhou. The giant telescope is also known as the 'Sky Eye' in China.

"FAST can now be used for observations at full capacity, and is expected to make a number of major scientific discoveries in the next two or three years," said chief telescope engineer Jiang Peng, adding that the telescope has a sensitivity of more than 2.5 times that of the second largest telescope. in this world.

China put world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope into formal operation on Saturday https://t.co/6iAICbYIUd pic.twitter.com/D0XXHJns9i

- China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 11, 2020

Carl Heiles, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, said FAST had provided revolutionary opportunities for astronomy, particularly in identifying pulsars and observing interstellar clouds.

At a cost of nearly 1.2 billion yuan (about 170 million US dollars), FAST was completed in September 2016, more than 20 years after being proposed by Chinese astronomers.

For the construction of this telescope, as many as 7,000 residents were relocated from that place to a city which is 10 kilometers away. Apart from the telescope, an astronomical theme park was also built there. Hopefully, this can attract a lot of tourists.

Meanwhile, the chief scientist of one of the FAST development teams, Nan Rendong, died at the age of 72 due to illness. The Chinese government gave awards to honor his services.