China unveils large radio telescope in Shanghai

Asia’s largest radio telescope for space observation was set up at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory Sunday, where astronomers said they hope it will be fully operational next year and be able to participate in the country’s upcoming missions to the moon. The 2,600-ton telescope, with a celestial observation distance of more than 100 light-years, is 70 meters tall. Its 3,317-square-meter antenna, which can rotate 360 degrees, has a diameter of 65 meters. Unlike optical telescopes that provide visual images of the object it is pointed at, the radio telescope tracks and collects radio signals and is used to collect data from satellites and space probes. “It is the size of the antenna that’s important. The greater the diameter the weaker the radio wave it can detect,” Fan Qingyuan, general engineer of the radio telescope project, told the English language Chinese newspaper “Global Times.”