Introduction to FAST-Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope
Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), is the Chinese effort for the international project SKA. The innovative engineering concept and design pave a new road to realize huge single dish in the most effective way. Being the most sensitive radio telescope, FAST will enable astronomers to jumpstart many of science goals, for example, the neutral hydrogen line surveying in distant galaxies, detecting faint pulsars, looking for the first star shining, hearing the possible signal from other civilizations and etc. The idea of sitting a large spherical dish in karst depression is rooted in Arecibo telescope hosted by the NAIC of Cornell University. FAST is an Arecibo-type antenna with 3 outstanding aspects: the unique karst depression as the site; the active main reflector which corrects spherical aberration on the ground to achieve full polarization and wide band without involving complex feed system; and the light focus cabin driven by cables and servomechanism plus a parallel robot as secondary adjustable system to carry the most precise parts of the receivers. The feasibility studies for FAST have been carried out for 14 years, being supported by Chinese and world astronomical communities. Funding for project FAST has been approved by the National Develop ment and Reform commission (NDRC) in July of 2007 with a capital budget ～600 millions RMB and a project time of 5.5 years from the foundation. The first light is expected to be in early 2014.
radio telescope neutral hydrogen line pulsar active reflector cabin suspension
Rendong Nan
National Astronomical Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100012, China
国际会议
The 10th Asian-Pacific Regional International Astronomical Union Meeting(第十届亚洲及太平洋地区天文学大会 APRIM)
昆明
英文
21-26
2008-08-03（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）