A new type of fast radio burst has been found based on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish telescope located in Southwest China's Guizhou Province.
The new discovery is expected to lay a foundation for building the evolving model of fast radio bursts and understanding the mysterious cosmic phenomenon.
A bird's-eye view of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, the world's largest single-dish telescope, located in Southwest China's Guizhou Province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) has played a key role in construction of the reflector surface and the feed cabin system, which are key to realizing highly-sensitive observation accuracy.
A core part of FAST's detection capacity and precision, the reflector looks like a super-large pot and consists of 4,450 surface units. Each unit is made of 100 1.1-meter diameter panels. The reflector surface is installed on the cable net and every joint of the net is connected to an actuator. When the facility is to be used to observe a target area, the actuator drives the movements of the related reflector units into a 300-meter diameter parabola surface that can enlarge the observation scope and improve the signal reception range.
In addition to the reflector panels, the feed cabin system of the FAST is another core part of the facility. Li Jianjun, its chief designer, explained that all signals collected by the reflector are gathered in the feed cabin system to support highly-sensitive cosmic observation missions. The position of the feed cabin differs as the shape and the focuses change.
An engineer inspects the feed cabin system inside the FAST. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
