Shane McGlaun - Dec 20, 2020, 9:24am CST
With the collapse of the iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, international scientists are looking for a new radio telescope to use in their projects. The largest radio telescope in the world is the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang, Guizhou province in China. The telescope became the world’s largest radio telescope when it was completed in 2016.
Before its completion, the Arecibo Observatory was the world’s largest radio telescope for 53 years. Sadly, the Arecibo Observatory is unrepairable and was shut down permanently. The good news for astronomers and scientists worldwide is China has opened the doors to FAST to scientists around the world. Chief inspector of operations at the radio telescope observatory, Wang Qiming, said that the Chinese scientific committee intends to make FAST increasingly open to the international community.