Where is the eye of heaven? What is Sky Eye

Tianyan is in Pingtang County, Guizhou, China.

The world's largest single-aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST) is also known as China's "Sky Eye". It is one of the nine major scientific and technological infrastructures of the country deliberated and determined by the National Science and Education Leading Group, and is a high-sensitivity giant radio telescope about the size of about 30 football fields built by adopting the original design of Chinese scientists and the unique topographical conditions of the karst depression in southern Guizhou, China.

Dawotai, Jinke Village, Kedu Town, Pingtang County, Guizhou Province. China's "Sky Eye" is also referred to as "FAST", it is a set of 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope located in the mountains of Guizhou Province in southwest China, its frame circumference is 1500 meters, the total area of reflection is equivalent to 30 football fields (about 250,000 square meters), because its "shape" is like a "cauldron" and the scale is very large, so it broke the world record when it was completed, and the comprehensive performance is ten times that of the Arecibo telescope managed by Cornell University in the United States. Therefore, it is called China's "eye in the sky" and the world's "eye in the sky".

Pulsars are rotating neutron stars, which are named because they constantly emit electromagnetic pulse signals. At first, when humans discovered the pulse signal, they thought it was a signal from aliens, but later learned that it was a product of a massive star that had exploded in a supernova. The Chinese Sky Eye is undoubtedly the best eye for observing pulsars and aliens, the Sky Eye Telescope is not directly to see with the eyes, the Sky Eye Telescope is a radio telescope, which can discover celestial bodies through electromagnetic waves in the universe combined with data, not to judge celestial bodies with light.

To be precise, electromagnetic waves are easier to observe than light to observe celestial objects. From the perspective of finding alien civilizations alone, China's Tianyan is undoubtedly the most powerful device, if there is really a technologically advanced alien civilization that emits intelligent electromagnetic waves in the universe, then China's Tianyan must be the first to discover.

For example, Wang Qiming, the chief craftsman of the Tianyan Telescope, said that the main role of the Tianyan Telescope is to assist China in aerospace and deep space exploration, so the Tianyan Telescope did not find aliens, nor did it find suspicious signals.

It is a single-aperture spherical radio telescope with independent intellectual property rights in China for exploring the universe. With it, it can promote the understanding and exploration of the deep space of the universe and provide new possibilities for the development of astronomy.

How big is the "China Sky Eye"? It has a caliber of 500 meters and a launch area the size of 30 standard football fields. If you fill it with mineral water, the average of 7 billion people in the world can get 4 bottles.

How far can it see? It can see through an area of more than 13 billion light-years, close to the edge of the universe. At present, the "China Sky Eye" is the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture radio telescope.

Drawing on the principle of parabolic antennas, the scientific name of the "Chinese Sky Eye" is a 500-meter aperture radio telescope that listens to signals from the universe from the earth. Unlike common optical telescopes, which observe through visible light, radio telescopes "see" the universe by receiving radio waves that are invisible in the universe. The thick atmosphere above us has two "windows":

One is the visible light window, through which human beings have observed the universe for thousands of years; One is the radio window, in the 30s of the last century, the pioneer of radio astronomy Karl Jansky stumbled upon a signal from the center of the Milky Way, and the curtain of radio astronomy was opened, promoting human understanding of the origin of the universe and the origin of life.

The eye of the sky is500-meter aperture spherical radio telescopeThis is the largest single-aperture radio telescope ever built by mankind.

The so-called radio telescope refers to the radio telescope used to receive radio waves.

of telescopes. And the Eye of Heaven can also detect more distant and ancient cosmic phenomena.

For example, distant galaxies.

The active supermassive black hole at the center can even detect the first rays of light emitted by the universe 13.8 billion years ago, cosmic microwave background radiation.

In addition, it is also possible that the Sky Eye will receive radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations.

Construction History. On August 26, 1993, at the International Radio Union Conference, astronomers from 10 countries, including China, proposed a plan to build a giant telescope, eager to go back to the original universe before the radio environment was completely destroyed and solve many difficult problems in astronomy.

Driven by this scientific source of power, through continuous exploration, Chinese astronomers put forward a proposal and engineering plan to build a 500-meter aperture spherical radio astronomy telescope in the karst depression of Guizhou.

China Tianyan is located in Dawotai, Jinke Village, Kedu Town, Pingtang County, Guizhou ProvinceIt has 4,450 reflective panels and a receiving area of 250,000 square meters.

In layman's terms, it covers an area of about 30 football fields, and if this "cauldron" is filled with water, each person in the world can share 4 bottles of mineral water, making it the world's largest aperture and most sensitive radio telescope. China not only has its own eye, but also the world's largest eye.

The reason for choosing the location in Guizhou

Hidden in the depths of the mountains of Guizhou, Dawotai in Pingtang County is a natural depression with a special "concave" geographical structure, just like a natural "stove" holding the "pot" of Tianyan. Moreover, the underground karst cave here is extremely developed, which is convenient for rainwater infiltration and flow, and is not easy to form stagnant water, avoiding corrosion and damage to the telescope, which is simply tailor-made for the eye of the sky.

At the same time, due to the fact that SkyEye receives a large number of radio signals, it needs a very "quiet" environment, and wireless devices such as television, mobile phones, and radio in human activities will interfere with the magnetic field of SkyEye, affecting the sensitivity of SkyEye, and the project must be far away from cities, villages and signal base stations. The remote areas of Guizhou, with low population density and low degree of tourism development, have less radio interference than Yunnan, which has a developed tourism industry.