China's FAST Telescope Upgraded with Domestic Parts, Discovers Nearly 1300 Pulsars
China's FAST radio telescope has received a significant upgrade with fully domestic components, enhancing its operational capabilities. The telescope has already discovered nearly 1300 pulsars.
China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) has completed a crucial upgrade utilizing entirely domestic components for its feed cabin's support system. The feed cabin, weighing 30 tons, is essential for receiving cosmic electromagnetic wave signals and is often referred to as the "eyeball" of the telescope.
The upgrade involved replacing six steel wire ropes, which are core parts of the cable-driven system. These ropes are responsible for precisely positioning the 30-ton feed cabin at a height of 140 meters within a 206-meter diameter area. Previously, the telescope relied on imported parts for this critical function.
With the upgrade complete, FAST is resuming its deep-space observation missions. The telescope has so far identified nearly 1300 pulsars, a number that significantly surpasses the total discoveries made by other international telescopes during the same period. FAST is currently the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture radio telescope.
Located in a natural karst depression in Guizhou province, FAST was conceptualized in 1994 and completed in 2016. Its massive collecting area is equivalent to 30 standard football fields.