China’s Global Times reported that applications for FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope) observation, the world’s largest radio telescope, are being accepted online from April 1 to foreign scientists.
Since August 2021, the FAST Center for Operational Development has allocated 10% of all observations to astronomers around the world. FAST started officially on January 11, 2020. The National Observatory of China discovered that as of November, it had discovered more than 240 pulsars. The most important discovery is the millisecond pulsar in M92, a globular cluster located in the constellation of Hercules, which rotates at 18.990 rpm, which is faster than a normal pulsar, inhaling or pouring out material from surrounding objects.
This opening of radio telescope operation will provide researchers with valuable observation opportunities in 10% of the total time. The Puerto Rico Arrecibo Observatory, which has played a role so far, has become unobservable due to the collapse of the facility structure.
The National Science Foundation, which has operated the Arrecibo Observatory, has announced a policy to end the operation of the Arrecibo radio wave and the facility to be removed, but the Puerto Rico governor has decided to invest $8 million in funding for reconstruction. However, even if the Arrecibo reconstruction is decided, it will take at least several years to operate. Opening observations using a FAST radio telescope is a welcome thing for astronomers. Related information can be found here .