China starts building world's largest fully steerable radio telescope
- Reference: 1732775169
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/11/28/jilin_120_meter_radio_telescope/
- Source link:
The purpose of the telescope is to help scientists better understand planets and asteroids, [1]according to CAS.
The ‘scope will receive electromagnetic waves from celestial bodies and send its own energy into the heavens to allow accurate measurement of distances Earth and other planets.
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Other radio telescopes with this capability include the defunct [3]Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico , NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, and The Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico.
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According to CAS, the radio telescope's site in northeast China's Huadian, Jilin was chosen back in May, and preliminary work has already begun. Part of its foundations have been completed and the installation, adjustment and testing of the telescope are expected to be completed in 2028.
That date coincides with projected completion dates for the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO). Some elements are already in operation, but the end of construction won't happen until 2028 or 2029.
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While the Jilin telescope is a significantly large single device, the [7]SKAO is an ensemble of over 130,000 antennas in Australia, plus another 200 in South Africa. As its name suggests, its dishes covers a total area of one square kilometer.
[8]Arecibo Observatory brings forward 'controlled demolition' plans by collapsing all by itself
[9]UK finally signs off on Square Kilometer Array Observatory Convention
[10]Square Kilometre Array Observatory construction commences
[11]Arecibo telescope might have failed because of weak sockets
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), located in China, is currently the world's largest single-dish radio telescope. It was completed in 2016, but extensive testing and calibration meant it only began operations in 2020.
FAST's 500-meter dish, while larger than the forthcoming Jilin radio telescope, is not fully steerable. The dish is located in a natural sinkhole, which gives it a mostly fixed orientation. It is designed to operate using a technique known as active surface control. It can be adjusted using a set of movable panels that allow for some flexibility in observing different regions of the sky.
Unlike the 305-meter Arecibo Observatory, which was a radar-based facility, FAST is designed primarily for radio astronomy – including studying cosmic objects like pulsars, galaxies, and black holes. Its dish allows it to collect incredibly weak radio signals from deep space.
Both the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and The Effelsberg Radio Telescope in Germany are fully steerable and have dish diameters of 100 meters.
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The CAS revealed China is currently building smaller but fully steerable radio telescopes in locations such as the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone of Jilin, Xigaze of Xizang Autonomous Region, and Qitai of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. ®
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[1] https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/cas_media/202411/t20241127_892452.shtml
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z0hNUu8-7pcEO11KTVX03wAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/01/arecibo_collapse/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z0hNUu8-7pcEO11KTVX03wAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z0hNUu8-7pcEO11KTVX03wAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z0hNUu8-7pcEO11KTVX03wAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/18/uk_finally_signs_off_on/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/01/arecibo_collapse/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/18/uk_finally_signs_off_on/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/05/square_kilometre_array_observatory_construction_commences/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/06/arecibo_telescope_failure_analysis/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z0hNUu8-7pcEO11KTVX03wAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Well if it's a radio telescope, couldn't you get it to 'ping' each one of them with a solid dose of microwave radiation as it moves across the field of view and knock them out? Asking for a friend.
Other use?
the radio telescope's site in northeast China's Huadian, Jilin was chosen back in May, and preliminary work has already begun.
Why wasn't it announced and boasted about back then? Enquiring minds would like to know. Is this a Chinese cultural difference? Is it an Intelligence device like the seismographs the CIA planted in Mongolia and Tibet in the 1950s, or a bit of American style "Military Budget" Pork Barrelling?
Re: Other use?
I don't know, but I would imagine that they didn't want to make a big thing about it until they had the foundation work done, just in case they discovered something that made it unfeasible. Delay announcement by a few months to avoid the risk of egg on face.
I expect fully steerable radiotelescopes to be a major element of the next Mad Max movie. Please don't let me down.
It will be good enough to see the cracks of Uranus.
I hope its on tracks
" I expect... "
Maybe Hammond, May & Clarkson could take it on a road-trip, and "accidentally" reverse it into the Great Wall, or some-such tomfoolery.
Impressive
I visited Effelsberg when I was young (several decades ago) and was suitably impressed. It is hard to imagine just how big this thing is. Unfortunately my career took a different turn, and I did astrophysics only as electives (and some lectures just as a guest, because back then nobody cared[1]).
[1] There used to be a time when as a student you basically had the right to attend any lecture you wished - there were some constraints when it came to labs, those were off limits, but lectures? Just go, enjoy, learn something new (provided the lecture theatre was big enough and you were not a nuisance. I did a couple of philosophy classes, astrophysics, musical theory, lots of maths and stats without doing exams, just because it was either enjoyable, interesting or neccessary for my theses (and thus interesting and actually fun). I wish I was bloody filthy rich, so I could stop working and study some more, hang out with scientists again...
Good luck seeing past Elmo's swarm of Starlink satellites..