Xizang වල ඉදිවෙන දැවැන්ත රේඩියෝ දුරේක්ෂය

Main antenna reflector of radio telescope in Xizang installed

The main antenna of China's 40-meter-aperture radio telescope was hoisted and installed on Friday (Oct. 04) in Shigatse, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

Developed by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the basic construction of the fully movable, high-precision, multi-purpose telescope is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, with an initial observation capability in early 2025.

The radio telescope is built about 35 kilometers to the west of Shigatse's city center, at an altitude of about 4,100 meters where electromagnetic wave interference is limited.

Upon completion of the construction, the telescope will be included into a very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) network in China that is comprised of radio telescope stations located across the country and a VLBI data processing center under the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory to help support the country's deep-space exploration.

VLBI is a technique that measures the time difference between the arrivals at multiple Earth-based antennas, thus simulating a virtual telescope with a size equal to the maximum separation between the telescopes.

The VLBI network will link radio telescopes scattered across the country to form a giant hyper high-precision synthesis aperture radio telescope, offering technical support for lunar and planetary exploration, and manned lunar landing missions for China in the future.

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