China builds giant radio telescope to meet needs of scientific observation

China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Xinhua]

China is building a giant radio telescope in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The main tower of the telescope was capped on Sunday, ushering in the official start of its interior decoration.

Located in a valley basin of Qitai County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, the telescope has an aperture of 110 meters and is expected to be completed and put into use in 2028.

The height of the antenna structure system exceeds that of a 35-storied building, with the telescope's reception area equal to 23 basketball courts and the antenna weighing more than 6,000 tonnes.

Upon completion, the telescope will become a world-leading large-aperture radio telescope which is fully steerable, and has high sensitivity and multi-disciplinary targets. Compared with fixed radio telescopes of the same size, fully steerable radio telescopes can observe a larger part of the sky.

In addition to meeting the needs of scientific observation and experimental research, it will also serve as an astronomical science popularisation and education base.