--- title: "China Opens Up Ginormous Alien-Hunting Telescope" description: "After three years of tests, China is opening up its gigantic 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) to astronomers from all over the world, Nature reports." date: "2019-09-25" modified: "2019-09-25" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-opens-up-fast-telescope" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "arecibo radio telescope" - "fast radio bursts" - "fast radio telescope" - "fast telescope" - "the digest" --- # China Opens Up Ginormous Alien-Hunting Telescope ![After three years of tests, China is opening up its gigantic 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) to astronomers from all over the world.]() *\Image: N509FZ\* ## Scope Hope After three years of tests, China is opening up its gigantic 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope to astronomers from all over the world, [*Nature* reports]() — the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world. The telescope will be scanning twice as much sky as the next-largest single dish telescope, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, according to *Nature*. It'll be able to detect even the faintest of radio waves emanating from celestial objects like pulsars and entire galaxies — and could even be used to discover distant worlds that might harbor alien life. ## Remote Location The telescope's extremely remote location in Southwest China made its construction challenging. It took engineers five years to construct the 500-meter dish, which is comprised of about 4,400 aluminum panels. The telescope could accelerate the discoveries of cosmic phenomena significantly. For instance, it spotted more than 100 pulsars during testing alone. Up until 2017, scientists knew of only 2,000 pulsars in total, [according to NASA](). ## Super Sensitive The telescope has also detected hundreds of fast radio bursts from a single known source, many of which were too faint to pick up by other telescopes, according to *Nature*. It could even spot distant exoplanets by their radio emissions alone — something that has yet to be successfully done. The remaining big challenge will be to store the incredibly vast amounts of data the telescope will be collecting over the coming years. **READ MORE:** [Gigantic Chinese telescope opens to astronomers worldwide]() \[*Nature*\] **More on FAST:** *[China is Looking for Someone to Run the World’s Largest Telescope]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()