Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope
Explanation:
The
Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is
nestled within a natural basin in China's remote and
mountainous southwestern Guizhou province.
Nicknamed Tianyan, or the Eye of Heaven, the new radio telescope is seen in
this photograph taken
near the start of its testing phase of operations on September 25.
Designed with an active surface for pointing and focusing,
its enormous dish antenna is constructed with 4,450 individual
triangular-shaped panels.
The 500 meter physical diameter of the dish makes
FAST the largest
filled, single dish radio telescope
on planet Earth.
FAST will
explore
the Universe at radio frequencies, detecting
emission from hydrogen gas in the Milky Way and distant galaxies,
finding faint galactic and extragalactic pulsars, and
searching for
potential radio signals from
extraterrestrials.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
