Original title: Arctic Eye Starry Sky Keeps Walking - "China Sky Eye" provides "Chinese wisdom" for world astronomy
On April 17, the reporter learned from the FAST Operation and Development Center of the National Astronomical Observatories that the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST), known as the "eye of China's sky", has discovered more than 900 new pulsars.
A series of world-class achievements have been made in the fields of fast radio burst origin and gravitational wave detection, the self-developed core components of receivers are expected to go abroad, and the construction of FAST core array is ready to go......
The starry sky of the pole is non-stop. "China Sky Eye" is constantly providing Chinese wisdom for the world's astronomy and Chinese technology for the global engineering community.
Loading...
The results are frequent
"China's Sky Eye" is a well-known national weapon. In order to "produce results early, produce more results, produce good results, and produce great results", Chinese scientists continue to "challenge the limits of cognition and technology", and use "created in China" to polish the profound "eye of the sky".
On April 17, the reporter learned from the FAST Operation and Development Center of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the number of new pulsars discovered by the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST), known as the "eye of China's sky", exceeded 900. Xinhua News Agency, Liu Xu, Lu Yuhan compiled
Up to now, more than 900 new pulsars have been discovered, including at least 170 millisecond pulsars, more than 120 binary pulsars, and 80 faint occasional pulsars.
"We are pushing the limits of what we can know about the universe. Han Jinlin, head of the National Astronomical Observatory's Yindao Plane Pulsar Sky Survey Project, said. In the 50 years between the discovery of the first pulsar and the discovery of the first pulsar by FAST, fewer than 3,000 pulsars have been discovered worldwide.
On October 10, 2017, "China Sky Eye" announced the discovery of 6 new pulsars, achieving a "breakthrough of zero". This is the first time that China has discovered a pulsar using its own independently developed radio telescope.
At present, more than 900 new pulsars have been discovered by the "China Sky Eye", which is more than three times the total number of pulsars discovered by other telescopes in the same period in the world.
Among them, the 80 faint occasional pulsars found have an order of magnitude lower radiant flux density than normal pulsars, and the lowest has reached the submicrocentral level.
In Han's view, the study of these occasional pulsars is of great significance for understanding how many dense neutron star debris are formed after the death of stars in the Milky Way and revealing unknown pulsed radiation physical processes.
Han Jinlin told reporters that if the search for pulsars is compared to picking fruits, the pulsars discovered before are relatively close to the ground and easy to "pick", and the more than 900 new pulsars discovered by "China's Sky Eye" are farther away or more difficult to pick.
Because each pulsar has its own special pulse and stable rotation frequency, they are equivalent to "lighthouses" in the universe with unique signal markers. If humans can achieve "interstellar crossing" in the future, these pulsars will provide "navigation" for human beings to travel through the vast universe.
"We accurately measure the coordinates of pulsars in space, and monitor the phase and corresponding position relationship of multiple pulsar signals during the journey, so that human beings will not get lost in interstellar travel. Han Jinlin said.
Panorama of "China Sky Eye" taken on February 26, 2024 (drone panorama, taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu
For the first time, the "pulse" of a black hole was observed in the radio band, the key evidence of the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves was detected, and the world's largest sample of neutral hydrogen galaxies was detected and constructed...... In recent years, "China Sky Eye" has made China's contribution to the exploration of the mysteries of the universe.
In the face of the unknown and the future, mankind shares a common destiny. From the moment it was born, "China Sky Eye" has shouldered the mission.
Since its official opening to the global scientific community on March 31, 2021, the "China Sky Eye" has helped research teams from 15 countries, including the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia, to carry out nearly 900 hours of observation, involving scientific target drift scanning surveys, neutral hydrogen galaxy surveys, galactic polarization surveys, pulsar time measurements, fast radio burst observations and other fields.
In the foreseeable future, the "China Sky Eye" will bring more new perspectives to the international astronomical community to continue to explore the universe and try to find unknown things, and make greater contributions to leading mankind to break through new fields of cognition.
Innovation doesn't stop
"I thought it would be revised seven or eight times, but I didn't expect the performance of the first version to reach the world's advanced level. Chai Xiaoming, a senior engineer at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced to reporters a low-noise amplifier with a silver-plated shell and only the size of a meloca, and it was difficult to hide his excitement in his words.
The low-noise amplifier is the core component of the "China Sky Eye" receiver, which was previously imported.
In order to solve the problem of "stuck neck" and master the key technology in their own hands, Chai Xiaoming's team spent nearly 2 years independently developing this high-performance domestic low-noise amplifier.
Panorama of "China Sky Eye" taken on February 26, 2024 (drone panorama, taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu
As soon as the prototype was launched, it attracted the attention of the international astronomical community, and the BINGO project in Brazil immediately proposed to the FAST Operation and Development Center for bulk purchase.
As the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture spherical radio telescope, the "China Sky Eye" has stimulated many special technical needs, which require Chinese scientists to give full play to their subjective initiative and creativity, and constantly "challenge the cognitive and technical limits" and constantly "find and solve problems" in optimization and upgrading.
There is no shortcut to innovation, only dare to climb.
"No one tells you what you can do, and no one is sure how you can do it. Jiang Peng, executive deputy director and chief engineer of the FAST Operation and Development Center, said that the difficult research of "repeated trials, repeated failures, and more frustrations and braver" has run through almost every link of the FAST construction stage.
In order to solve the problem of cable fatigue, Jiang Peng led a group of young people to successfully support the "retina" of "China's Sky Eye" after nearly 100 failures.
The "China Sky Eye" feed capsule taken on February 26, 2024 (drone photo, taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu
In order to develop a new control system, Sun Jinghai, director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Department of the FAST Operation and Development Center, has rewritten almost all the core algorithm code.
In order to solve the problem of electromagnetic interference in substations, Gan Hengqian, director of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department of the FAST Operation and Development Center, invented a high-voltage filter matching the "China Sky Eye" after nearly two years of exploration and experimentation......
Only in the construction stage, "China Sky Eye" has won important scientific and technological awards in more than ten fields such as steel structure, automation industry, machinery industry, surveying and mapping geographic information technology, and electromagnetic compatibility research and development.
Panorama of "China Sky Eye" taken on February 26, 2024 (drone photo, taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu
"Sky Eye" asks the sky, there is no end. Jiang Peng said frankly that if FAST was only regarded as a telescope and a monitoring device, it would have reached the standard now. But to maintain FAST's world-leading position, we can't stop innovating, and we will do everything we can to make FAST more stable and efficient.
At present, the annual observation time of FAST is stable at about 5300 hours, which plays an important supporting role in the continuous output of scientific research results.
Race for the future
Survey the sky and explore the universe, decipher the starry sky. "China Sky Eye" has never stopped innovating.
"Astronomy is extremely romantic because it studies the stars and the sea of human beings. Astronomy is also extremely brutal, because international competition is extremely fierce, and if you slacken, you will lose your leading position. Jiang Peng said.
Looking at the world, many radio telescope arrays such as the Square Kilometer Array of International Science and Engineering (SKA) are under construction.
The "China Sky Eye" survey foundation pier photographed by an infrared camera on February 27, 2024 (taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu
"Once these telescopes are put into operation, the 'China Sky Eye' will face a huge challenge. Jiang Peng said, "If we relax a little, Chinese astronomers may 'lose' the forefront of the radio band field of view." ”
The reporter recently walked into the core area of "China Sky Eye" and saw on a hill less than 3 kilometers away from "China Sky Eye" that the excavator was working intensively, and the original mountain top with overgrown trees and strange rocks had been bulldozed and tamped.
"In the next five years, we plan to build 20 to 30 fully movable radio telescopes with an aperture of 40 meters to form a comprehensive aperture array, that is, the FAST core array, by taking advantage of the excellent electromagnetic wave environment within 5 kilometers around FAST. Jiang Peng told reporters that a 40-meter fully movable radio telescope will be built within the year on the mountain.
"Relying solely on the 'Chinese Sky Eye' to observe the universe is like using a 'thick pencil' to paint a picture of a celestial body, and if the core array is completed and put into use, it is equivalent to using a high-resolution 'digital camera' to photograph the distant starry sky. Jiang Peng introduced that once the core array is completed, it will greatly improve the vision of the "Chinese Sky Eye", so that "the 'China Sky Eye' can not only see far, but also see clearly".
Jiang Peng (left), executive deputy director and chief engineer of the FAST Operation and Development Center, observes the operation of the equipment in the general control room (taken on March 20, 2024). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu
According to Li Hui, director of the Structural and Mechanical Engineering Department of the FAST Operation and Development Center, the FAST core array will expand the existing scientific research fields, especially in gravitational wave events, fast radio bursts, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, black hole tidal disintegration events and other extreme temporary sources.
In addition to astrophysics research, the FAST core array is also expected to play a huge role in the field of deep space exploration, such as near-Earth object early warning, space microtarget detection, deep space satellite communication and control, ionospheric characteristic measurement, pulsar time reference, etc., which can play a very important strategic supporting role in the development of the continental aerospace field.
Jiang Peng said: "In order to keep China's radio astronomy power always advanced in the world, we will accelerate the climb at a new starting point and lead the team to continuously explore new scientific frontiers." ”
Text reporters: Zhao Xinbing, Ou Dongqu, Pan Dexin
Video reporters: Ou Dongqu, Yang Yanbin, Liu Qinbing, Chen Chang
Poster design: Sun Yao
Editors: Jin Di, Lin Ge, Qi Wenjuan, Liu Yongzhen, Lin Fanjing, Hou Bangxing, Cheng Hao
Co-ordinator: Huang Xiaoxi, He Yuxin
Source: Xinhua News Agency