Chinese scientists are looking for extraterrestrial life, on Saturday the largest radio telescope in the world was opened–Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST. Its wavelength will help scientists in the exploration of outer space and distant stars. The telescope is 500 meters in diameter, it is even more than apparat in Puerto Rico, Xinhua News Agency informs.
China has begun operating the world’s largest radio telescope, the 500 m in diameter, FAST should help search for extraterrestrial life. Thus, China demonstrates the country’s rising astronomical ambitions and its pursuit of international scientific prestige.
The radio telescope project followed the recent launch of China’s second space station, says the official Xinhua News Agency. According to the press, hundreds of astronomers and enthusiasts attended Sunday’s launch of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST.
The researchers said that FAST would search for gravitational waves, detect radio emissions from stars and galaxies and listen for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Such a large construction as FAST (500 meters in diameter) is nestled in a lush green karst landscape in southern Guizhou province. Construction took five years and cost $180 million. FAST’s size surpasses that of the 300-meter Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
