China’s FAST radio telescope set for major upgrade to keep its place as world leader

An array of 24 radio telescopes will be built around China’s FAST to help boost the massive telescope’s resolution

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China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) will get a major upgrade, it has been announced. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:00pm, 26 Sep 2024Updated: 6:12pm, 26 Sep 2024

China has launched the second phase of construction for its FAST radio telescope, as it aims to boost its observational power and maintain its global leadership in radio astronomy.

As part of the upgrade, two dozen fully steerable radio telescopes – each 40 metres (131 feet) across – will be constructed around the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), according to state broadcaster CCTV.

FAST is the world’s largest and most sensitive single-dish radio telescope, located in the southwestern province of Guizhou.

The new telescopes will be tuned to work in unison with FAST, forming an array that will be equivalent to that of a 10km (6.2-mile) diameter telescope, and will boost FAST’s resolution more than 30 times, CCTV reported on Wednesday.

This, in turn, will allow scientists to better understand phenomena such as gravitational waves, fast radio bursts and black hole events.

“There’s fierce international competition in radio astronomy, with multiple major projects like the Square Kilometre Array in the southern hemisphere and the Next Generation Very Large Array in the United States already under way,” senior astronomer Chang Jin told Xinhua news agency.

That competition saw Chinese scientists challenged with developing a long-term strategy to maintain FAST’s competitive edge in the low to mid-frequency range, added Chang, who also serves as vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.