China News Service, Beijing, January 4 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The reporter learned from the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the 4th that the world’s largest single-aperture radio telescope and the 500-meter spherical radio telescope (FAST) known as the "China Sky Eye" will It will be officially opened to the world on April 1, 2021, accepting observation applications from scientists around the world, and will be allocated observation time from August 1 after review and selection.

　　Jiang Peng, executive deputy director and chief engineer of the FAST Operation and Development Center of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that from April 1 this year, scientists from various countries can submit observation applications to the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences online, and the applied projects will be submitted to the FAST Science Committee Review with the Time Allocation Committee, put forward project selection suggestions, and allocate observation time from August 1.

In the first year that the "China Sky Eye" is open to scientists around the world, it is estimated that about 10% of the observation time allocated to foreign scientists will be allocated.

　　FAST scientific goals and related strategic plans have established multiple scientific goals such as drift scan survey, neutral hydrogen galaxy survey, galaxy polarization survey, pulsar time measurement, fast radio burst observation and other priority and major projects. However, it is open to global scientists Observation applications are not limited to these areas.

　　Two months ago, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences held a press conference on FAST operation and scientific results in Beijing. It stated that the "China Sky Eye" has been operating stably and reliably since the completion of the national acceptance, and has made the discovery of more than 240 pulsars and other series of major scientific results, based on FAST The data has published more than 40 high-level papers, and with the huge potential of the world's most sensitive radio telescope, it is expected to capture the original gravitational waves during the Big Bang period.

　　Wu Xiangping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the FAST Science Committee, pointed out that in 2021, FAST will be open to the world, and the "China Sky Eye" will become the "world giant eye", reflecting the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

　　Chang Jin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the scientific results achieved since FAST's acceptance and operation far exceeded expectations.

FAST has ultra-high sensitivity. It will see cosmic phenomena that have not been seen before. In the future, we can expect it to bring many big surprises in science.

　　It is understood that as a major national scientific and technological infrastructure, the "China Sky Eye" located in Pingtang, Guizhou, was completed and commissioned in September 2016 and entered the commissioning period; it passed the process acceptance in April 2019 and was opened to Chinese domestic astronomers for trial; January 2020 Passed the national inspection and acceptance and officially opened for operation.

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