Lead
It costs nearly 400,000 yuan a day, and the operating costs alone cost nearly 400,000 yuan.
What discoveries have made it invaluable, not only to deepen human understanding of the universe, but also to verify some theories in the field of science.
Since its opening, it has not only received the attention of all parties, but more and more people in the world have recognized the status of the mainland in the field of radio.
First, the cost is huge.
On September 25, 2011, China Tianyan officially began construction, standing in a remote pit in Guizhou Province, began to take root in its own station, to know that the construction of China's Tianyan is not a trivial matter, costing as much as 920 million, this figure does not shock you?
But why is this expensive equipment getting more and more attention, is it that the higher the cost, the higher the technology content of this equipment?
The answer is no, expensive equipment is not necessarily useful, but why is China's Tianyan equipment so expensive?
Why?
China's Sky Eye is expensive to build and operate, mainly because of its large scale and the increasing demand for radio telescopes, and they have been exploring new areas since the first day of construction.
And how huge is the scale of China's Sky Eye?
The diameter of China's Tianyan is 500 meters, and the entire equipment covers an area larger than Tiananmen Square, which can be said to be very large, but it is such a large scale that it can help people observe more distant celestial bodies and further explore the mysteries of the universe.
On the other hand, the larger the scale of China's Tianyan, the more funds are needed to build, and the greater the difficulty of construction, which is another reason for the huge cost of China's Tianyan.
On the one hand, because of the huge scale, on the other hand, because of the high technology content of China's Tianyan, the structure of radio telescopes is generally parabolic, but the parabola of China's Tianyan is not a single piece, but composed of 5,000 steel cables, and these 5,000 steel cables are still supported by more than 3,000 support points.
The complexity of these support points, as well as the location of each cable, has been carefully designed by scientists, and these designs are all carried out manually.
On the other hand, the reflective surface is a very critical part, because the role of radio telescopes is more like "listening to the universe" than the so-called "seeing", so it can help people observe the electromagnetic waves in the invisible area, these electromagnetic waves are coming from a distance, if the design of the reflective surface is not reasonable, it will even lead to loss, which will make the observation results skewed.
Therefore, the design of each reflection unit is very important, and there are a total of 46,500 reflection units in the reflective surface of China's Tianyan, which can be said to be very large, and the design of China's Tianyan is also very advanced, which can support the expansion of the caliber in the future.
Second, the role is more like "listening to the universe".
What is the use of these researchers using such a huge amount of equipment?
Why spend so much money on building these devices?
The role of a radio telescope may seem simple, just analyzing electromagnetic waves from outer space and then extrapolating backwards to see where these electromagnetic waves are coming from, but the radio telescope is much more than that.
The role of radio telescopes is more like "listening to the universe", because most of the celestial bodies in the universe are in a low temperature state, so the universe is mainly dominated by electromagnetic waves of thermal radiation, so radio telescopes can help people explore electromagnetic waves in the invisible region, and can help people observe objects that are invisible in other bands.
However, the sensitivity and aperture of radio telescopes are closely related, and larger radio telescopes can receive electromagnetic waves from farther and darker objects, and the signal of radio objects is very weak, which is why radio telescopes need a relatively large scale.
However, this also brings a problem, that is, the strength of the signal does not increase linearly, but gradually decreases with distance, so the aperture of the radio telescope also needs to gradually increase with distant objects.
China's Sky Eye is to receive electromagnetic waves from more distant celestial bodies, so it will have such a large scale, but this does not mean that the larger the radio telescope, the better, because the operation and maintenance cost of China's Sky Eye is very high.
According to scientific researchers, the daily operating cost of China Tianyan is about 375,000 yuan, and this is not the highest, but the lowest, because the operation and maintenance cost of China Tianyan is increasing year by year over time, and this does not include the cost of consumables and manual maintenance of China Tianyan.
Therefore, the operation and maintenance costs of China Tianyan are immeasurable, but the scientific research value of China Tianyan is very high.
3. The importance of discovery.
Since the construction of China's Tianyan, a large number of pulsars have been discovered, pulsars are also a very magical celestial body, their diameter is only about 20 kilometers, but they have about twice the mass of the sun, and the density is even greater than iron, so pulsars are also a very terrifying celestial body, how did China's Tianyan find so many pulsars?
Pulsars can send out regular signals, just like a pulse in the universe, but the pulse cycle of pulsars is very regular, some are even very fast, China Tianyan can find these pulsars, that is, by receiving the signals they emit, and then analyze, the signals of these pulsars are very regular, so China Tianyan can easily analyze the existence of these pulsars.
In addition, China's Sky Eye has also discovered a celestial body called "fast radio bursts", fast radio bursts are a very mysterious phenomenon, their duration is very short, only about 1ms, but their energy is very huge.
The reason why these fast radio bursts can be detected by the Chinese Sky Eye is that the fast radio bursts produce radio radiation after the burst, and their signals are very regular, so the Chinese Sky Eye can quickly detect their existence.
The current observation role of China's Tianyan has gradually developed to a more far-reaching place, they will mainly observe the neutral hydrogen gas flow, the neutral hydrogen gas flow is also a very mysterious phenomenon, they can help people observe distant celestial bodies through the absorption line of neutral hydrogen, and can also help people explore the composition and evolution of the universe, and also help people understand the large-scale structure of the universe in more detail.
At the same time, China's Sky Eye will also observe quark stars, quark stars are a more common celestial body than neutral hydrogen, quark stars have a larger diameter, and quark stars are very rich in spectral lines, and also include some very important information, which is very helpful for the study of quark stars, and also helps people better understand the evolution process of quark stars, as well as the composition of matter in the universe.
There are many observation directions of China's Tianyan, but the status of China's Tianyan in the world is getting higher and higher, and there are still many observation directions of China's Tianyan in the future, and it is very likely that China's Tianyan will also help mankind discover extraterrestrial civilizations and bring major discoveries to the development of human civilization.
epilogue
Although the construction and operation of radio telescopes are very expensive, they are all the major discoveries they have discovered, and they are the most important contributions to human scientific research, and their value is immeasurable.
At the same time, the discovery of radio telescopes also helps to verify some scientific theories, such as some problems in Einstein's theory of relativity, which can be verified with the help of radio telescopes, so it can be said that radio astronomy plays a pivotal role in scientific research.
The discovery of China's Tianyan not only has a significant impact on the field of astronomy, but also helps to stimulate the public's interest in science, promote the development of popular science education, and promote the popularization and dissemination of scientific knowledge.