China Unveils World’s Largest Radio Telescope to Find Alien Life

China has unveiled the world’s largest radio telescope, which can detect signals from 1,000 light years away.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province. (Photo: AP)

Construction on the world’s biggest radio telescope is underway in Guizhou Province in southwest China.

Due for completion and commissioning in September, the 500-meter Single-Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope is known as FAST for short.

In a few days’ time, its last reflector panel will be installed. When it’s fully functional, the telescope should be able to detect radio signals from the deep universe – more than 1,000 light years away.

China’s FAST project

Experts say this gigantic radio telescope will fast-forward China’s astronomical level by at least ten years. When completed, it will be the world’s biggest single-aperture spherical radio telescope, and the most sensitive radio telescope in human history.

A vehicle leaves light trails in a long exposure photo as it drives beneath the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province. (Photo: AP)

The Telescope to find ET

The telescope has a 1.6 kilometer circumference. It consists of nearly 4,500 panels and has been built in a natural karst depression to shield it from electromagnetic disturbances.

In just few months, it will require “radio silence” within five kilometers. All residents have to move away, and no cell phone signals are allowed.

In just few months, it will require “radio silence” within five kilometers. All residents have to move away, and no cell phone signals are allowed.

The project began in 2011 and has cost nearly 1.2 billion yuan – about $185 million USD.

Experts say this gigantic telescope – the world’s largest – could view the universe by collecting radio frequency radiation, and will be capable of detecting very weak signals from space. It could also make a contribution to areas such as the large-scale physics of the universe and to the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. (Inputs: AP/CCTV)

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam