On the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the completion of the world's largest single-aperture spherical radio telescope, the construction of the FAST core array test prototype of China's Sky Eye FAST was officially launched today, which is expected to further greatly improve the astronomical observation capability of the FAST telescope.
In order to further improve the scientific observation capability of FAST and maintain its leading scientific advantages, the scientific research team proposed a low-cost and fast-to-implement radio telescope array scheme, making full use of the advantages of the excellent electromagnetic environment within 5 kilometers around FAST to build 24 40-meter aperture fully movable radio telescopes and FAST to form an integrated aperture array, that is, the FAST core array.
Jiang Peng, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the FAST Operation and Development Center, said that compared with the 500-meter aperture spherical telescope, the construction of the 40-meter aperture radio telescope itself is not difficult, but it faces two key technical difficulties in order to achieve the effect of network observation with the large-aperture FAST. One is a high-performance ambient receiver, which the team has never had before; Second, the data processing technology of comprehensive aperture, especially the data processing technology of different aperture telescopes together, has no particularly mature experience in China, and requires technological breakthroughs.
The FAST core array will effectively improve the observation resolution and imaging capabilities
△ Renderings of the FAST core array
China's Sky Eye FAST is the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture radio telescope, and its comprehensive performance has reached the international leading level. Since its operation, FAST has made a number of important original achievements in the fields of pulsars, fast radio bursts, and nanohertz gravitational waves.
Zhu Weiwei, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the FAST Operation and Development Center, said that compared with the 100-meter aperture radio telescope in operation, the sensitivity of FAST is an order of magnitude higher, but its resolution is much lower than that of the world's first-class array telescope. The resolution ability is related to the size of the aperture, adding some auxiliary telescopes around FAST is equivalent to turning it into a telescope with a large aperture, but only some small places in this telescope with a large aperture really have mirrors, so it can have good resolution, so that the telescope, which is already very sensitive, suddenly has an imaging ability that can distinguish space, which is an improvement in ability.
It is understood that the FAST core array will effectively improve its resolution, precise positioning and fine mapping capabilities, and greatly expand the existing scientific research fields, especially in gravitational wave events, fast radio bursts, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and black hole tidal disintegration events. In addition to astrophysics research, the FAST core array can also play a role in deep space exploration fields such as near-Earth object early warning and deep space satellite communication, and play an important strategic supporting role in the continental aerospace field.