Construction of FAST telescope's Core Array gets underway

On Wednesday, at the eighth anniversary of the completion of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), construction officially began on the prototype of the Core Array of the "China Sky Eye", aiming to enhance FAST's resolution, precise positioning, and mapping capabilities.

As the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, FAST boasts unparalleled sensitivity in the world. Since its completion on Sept 25, 2016, FAST has achieved numerous world-class scientific breakthroughs, according to the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Jiang Peng, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories, said that scientists have decided to utilize the electromagnetic wave environment within a 5-kilometer radius around FAST and construct 24 forty-meter aperture radio telescopes to form the Core Array alongside FAST.

"The construction of the Core Array will significantly enhance the vision of the China Sky Eye, enabling it to see not only far but also clearly," he said in an interview with China Central Television.

On Wednesday, over 100 experts from domestic research institutions and universities gathered in Pingtang county, Guizhou province, where the FAST is located, to discuss and jointly plan the scientific layout and construction of the FAST Core Array.

The National Astronomical Observatories said that the construction plan for the Core Array aims to significantly enhance FAST's scientific observation capabilities at a relatively low cost. It is expected to achieve groundbreaking results in research areas such as the composition and evolution of the universe, as well as gravitational wave bursts, making new contributions to humanity's exploration of the cosmos.