On the 17th, the 'China Skyeye' 500m diameter spherical radio telescope was installing the world's first 19-beam L-band receiver. It is expected to be put into use in early June. This is currently the most advanced 19-beam feed receiver in the world, from China and Australia. Scientists jointly developed. After the launch, FAST survey speed will increase by 5-6 times. At the same time, it will also expand more scientific observation targets.
Although the previously used ultra-wideband single-beam receiver has limited observation capabilities, 14 new pulsars have been discovered in 'China Skyeye'. The newly discovered millisecond pulsars once again highlight the great potential of 'China Skyeye' in pulsar search. In 2015, China and Australia signed a contract for the development of 19 beam receivers. After more than one year, the Chinese and Australian scientists have jointly developed the world’s first 19-beam L-band receiver. This receiver weighs 1.2 tons. More than 2000 million yuan.
Kim Seung-jin, chief engineer of the FAST project receiver system, told the reporter that the sensitivity of the 19-beam L-band receiver is the highest. After formal investment, the efficiency of the FAST survey will be greatly improved, and it will play a major role in pulsar search and spectral line observation. Douglas Heyman, director of the Australian CSIRO project at the installation site, said that the successful development of the 19-beam L-band receiver was based on CSIRO's many years of technology accumulation. Before that, the world’s most advanced 13-beam receiver was also developed by CSIRO.
With the 19-beam L-band receiver put into use, the “China Sky” observation will obtain a more accurate positioning image of the radio source, find more pulsars, and be able to observe neutral hydrogen in different directions in the universe at different distances. 1.4 GHz lines to better explore the history of the universe and even to search for possible extraterrestrial civilizations.
Zhang Xiaoxin, deputy manager of FAST and director of the office, said that at present, FAST has signed a cooperation agreement with China Telecom Guizhou Corporation. At the same time, the FAST early scientific data center in Guizhou Normal University is expanding.
Source: Science and Technology Daily
