© EPA / XINHUA / Ou Dongqu
China’s giant radio telescope FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) is growing. The facility is being converted 24 additional, smaller metal dishes (parabolic mirrors) with antennas were added.
The mirrors of the new FAST Core Array should each have a diameter of 40 Meter have and at a distance of 5 kilometers be positioned around the main mirror. This makes with a diameter of 500 meters ALMOST to world’s largest radio telescope.
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Signals from space
Radio telescopes look like big ones satellite dishes and work similarly. They collect radio waves from sources in space. The larger the surface – i.e. the mirror – with which the radio waves are collected, the more precise the result. These waves are then bundled and amplified using one or more antennas.
The evaluated signals then provide information about celestial events, such as Starbursts. But you can too Asteroids in our solar system or for clues about Aliens seek.
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Several radio telescopes provide a more precise image
It is not uncommon for radio telescopes to consist of several individual antennas. They are often used in networks or Arrays tied together. An example of this is something like this Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)that out 66 individual antennas consists.
The individual antennas are aimed at the same source for observation. Since they all come from one others Shop Looking at it, it looks like you have a single, huge mirror. The images are then layered on top of each other to increase resolution.
The 24 new antennas of the FAST telescope have a special feature. They are in contrast to the main mirror movable. The primary mirror is always aimed at a point in the sky and you have to wait until what you want to observe appears above the telescope. The movable mirrors can be aimed at a point in the night sky.
Moving mirrors increase reaction time
That will be especially the case Increase reaction timewith which discoveries can be made. As the Chinese state television CCTV reports, this is intended to provide new observations of Gravitational waves, Fast Radio Bursts (i.e. short, strong bursts of radio waves), as well as supernovae become possible.
Also events at Black holeslike meeting a star (so-called Tidal Disruption Events) should be investigated. A star comes so close to a black hole that some of its matter is attracted to the black hole.
Asteroid early detection
FAST plays another important role in detecting smaller objects in the solar system, such as Asteroids and Comets. This is particularly essential for protecting the Earth from potentially dangerous celestial bodies.
Especially after that Arecibo-Teleskopand thus an important contribution to the early detection of asteroids, was lost, additional telescopes are needed for the detection. The legendary telescope, known, among other things, from the James Bond film GoldenEyecollapsed in 2020.
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China wants to remain competitive
With the FAST Core Array, China wants to be ahead of other telescopes, such as the latest generation, at least in the 2030s Very Large Array (VLA), competitive remain. This is scheduled to be completed in 2035 and will deliver significantly better quality than FAST.
In addition, the construction should be a first step towards this FASTA Project to prepare, it says in the . A total of 6 identical FAST telescopes be connected to form a gigantic radio telescope.
The start of construction for the expansion began on historic 25. September. It is the 8th anniversary of the completion of FAST.
When it comes to diameter, the Russian one actually has it RATAN 600 the nose ahead. The telescope has with 576 meters a larger diameter than the FAST. But it consists of a ring of reflectors, not a filled surface.
This means that FAST’s surface area for collecting radio waves is larger. RATAN 600 has 12.000 m2 Quilt, FAST has 196.000 m2 available.
The question of the largest telescope is therefore a matter of interpretation. Still, most agree that FAST is the world’s largest radio telescope.
