Big (500m) Chinese radio telescope FAST

archae86
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Mike Hewson wrote:Yankees is

Mike Hewson wrote:
Yankees is a WhackTheBall team aren't they ?


Yes, assuming that your term refers to the game we Usonians call baseball, and designate our local winners "World Champions".

Confession: I'm putting one more post to this slumbering thread which I started just to attempt a trial of the stated thread title editing function.

As stated elsewhere, the requirements seem to be:
1. be logged in to the account of the thread originator.
2. Make a new post to the thread (NOT using the reply or quote button).
3. Within the posting editing timeout (currently 60 minutes here, I think), click the edit button on your new post.
4. In that editing session you'll see a chance to edit your thread title.
5. Specifically on the edit page there is a box just above the post edit box containing the current title--and you can edit it!

For those of us who generally launch a post in "response" to a specific other post by clicking the reply or quote buttons in that post, this option never appears. But there is not a problem with using a quote BBCode tag inside the post--just with initiating the post with that button.

Bikeman (Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein)
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News from FAST: The mirror

News from FAST: The mirror has been completed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36700664

HB

AgentB
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Opening ceremony this weekend

Opening ceremony this weekend from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37453933

After construction was complete, Prof Peng said the instrument was able to detect radio waves from three pulsars, which are rapidly rotating, extremely dense stars. They are a key scientific target for the team.

However, he said much more work needed to be done before the telescope could begin to work to its full potential. This will involve testing, tuning and calibrating it.

"Normally a traditional telescope will take about two years to become fully functional, but Fast is so big, I would say we need three years before it is open to the world," said Prof Peng.

However, he added that the team would be able to carry out some science in this testing phase, and would be working with international astronomers.

Prof Nan Rendong, who is the mastermind of the telescope and its chief scientist, said that collaboration with the global scientific community would be a vital part of the project.

"As soon as the telescope works normally, a committee will distribute observation time according to the scientific value of the proposals. Proposals from foreign scientists will be accepted and there will be foreign scientists on the allocation committee."

 

astro-marwil
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As far as I know, the Chinese

As far as I know, the Chinese plan to build a somewhat bigger (105m) freely moving Radio Telescope like the Green Bank Teleskope (100m) in the USA. 

If I remember correctly, Bikeman was an invited speaker on a scientific program conference in China to prepare for such a telescope. When he was there, the telscope was under construction. But I don´t know about the state of this project now.

Kind regards an happy crunching

Martin

AgentB
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astro-marwil wrote:If I

astro-marwil wrote:

If I remember correctly, Bikeman was an invited speaker on a scientific program conference in China to prepare for such a telescope. When he was there, the telscope was under construction. But I don´t know about the state of this project now.

I think they have started building the QTT and i managed to find some detail  QTT update

It's not clear when they will be finished.

 

edit: More FAST video footage.

Mike Hewson
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"a crystal of our wisdom"

"a crystal of our wisdom" indeed ! I hadn't fully realised the versatility of this gadget. The shape is actively configured as is the positioning of the receiver(s) as per focal point. A marvel of engineering. Epic effort. Of course they have much ahead of them in the tuning/configuration/characterisation.

I wonder if there might be a FAST@Home ? I'd be in that .... :-))

Cheers, Mike.

I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...

... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal

astro-marwil
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Hallo! I just see, the new

Hallo!

I just see, the new QTT will be not like the Green Bank Telescope but like the Effelsberg Telescope. The GBT uses an offset mirror, wich doesn´t give a shadow by the  secondary mirror and it´s supporting arm on the main mirror, but it has a small non circular spot on the sky.

Kind regrards and happy crunching

Martin 

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