Peking University wants to build the largest optical telescope in Asia and close the gap in astronomy capabilities with the rest of the world.
The aim of the project is to make initial Telescope with an aperture of 19.7 ft (6 m) by 2024; The mirror will be expanded to 26.2 feet (8 m) by 2030. The project, called the Expanding Aperture Segmented Telescope (EAST) in English, is being led by Peking University.
According to Peking University, the telescope will “greatly improve China’s observational capabilities in optical astronomy”. Statement,
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The EAST acronym is fitting as the facility will become the first world-class optical telescope in the Eastern Hemisphere. Today’s cutting edge facilities In the Western Hemisphere there are sites such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the Atacama in Chile, and the Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa.
The first phase of the EAST project envisions the construction of a mirror made of 18 hexagonal mirror segments, similar to the mirrors for NASA. james webb space telescope, The mirror will have a diameter of about 19.7 feet, again the same as the JWST.
But unlike the latest space telescopes, which are 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from orbit Earth The second will be built at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point, on Saishiteng Mountain near Lenghu Town in Qinghai Province in the east. Tibetan Plateau (opens in new tab)At an altitude of about 13,800 feet (4,200 m).
The second phase will add a ring of 18 more hexagonal segments around the mirror, expanding it to more than 26.2 feet in diameter by 2030.
Peking University estimates that the project will cost between 500–600 million yuan ($69–84 million). qinghai news Reported Last month the work on the project is progressing in an orderly manner.
Peking University notes that astronomy plays an important role in technology and social development, and that 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics Scientists honored for discovering black hole at center of Milky Way using powerful optical telescopes including twin cake binoculars Mauna Kea and very large telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert of Chile.
The former would also be a great addition to China’s vastly growing astronomy capabilities. Which country has built the world’s largest single aperture radio telescope? Quickand is planning to launch a large space observatory known as xuntian As soon as the end of 2023.
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