China's super telescope discovers two pulsars

Two new pulsars thousands of light-years from Earth have been discovered by a Chinese telescope dedicated to searching for alien life.

FAST is the world's largest radio telescope. Photo: Xinhua

After a year of operation, FAST, the world's largest radio telescope, has identified two pulsars, the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) announced yesterday. The pulsars J1859-01 and J1931-01 are located 16,000 and 4,100 light-years away from Earth, with rotation periods of 1.83 seconds and 0.59 seconds, respectively, according to Xinhua.

According to Li Di, a senior scientist at NAOC, the two pulsars were discovered on August 22 and 25 when FAST scanned the southern plane of the Milky Way. The discovery was confirmed by the Parkes 64-meter radio telescope in Australia in September.

Peng Bo, deputy director of the FAST project, said a large and complex telescope like FAST needs to be commissioned within three to five years. "The instrument achieved really encouraging results within just one year," Peng said.

Located in a deep, naturally sloping limestone basin in southwestern Guizhou Province, China, FAST, a 500-meter-aperture radio telescope, was completed in September 2016. FAST's signal-receiving dish is equivalent in size to 30 football fields.

Illustration of pulsar J1859-01. Photo: Xinhua

The main components of FAST include an operating cabin, 4,600 triangular mirrors, and a reflector. Through the telescope, astronomers will be able to survey hydrogen in the Milky Way and other galaxies, discover thousands of new pulsars, learn about the origin and evolution of the universe, and search for alien life.

According to VNE