FAST, or the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, first proposed in 1994, is a radio telescope to be built by 2013 in a natural basin （大窝凼洼地）,[1] Pingtang County 平塘县 near Duyun, capital of the Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 黔南布依族苗族自治州, Guizhou Province 贵州, southwest China [2] As of June 2011[update] construction should be complete by September 2016.[3]
It will have 4,600 triangular panels and be similar in design to the Arecibo Observatory, utilizing a natural hollow (karst) to provide support for the telescope dish. As the name suggests, it will have a diameter of 500m (one 里 lǐ).
It will use an adaptive surface that adjusts to create parabolas in different directions, with an effective dish size of 300m. This means that it will not be confined to pointing directly upwards, but capable of covering the sky within 40 degrees from the zenith. Its working frequency will be 0.3-5.1 GHz, with a pointing precision of 4 arcseconds.[4]
In October 2008, the project was approved by the National development and reform commission. On Dec 26, 2008, a foundation laying ceremony was held on the construction site.[5]
The chief scientist of the project is Nan Rendong, a researcher with the Chinese National Astronomical Observatory, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
