The 500-meter spherical radio telescope located in Pingtang, Guizhou Province is called "500-meter spherical radio telescope (FAST)". It was put forward by China astronomer Nan Yu 1994. It took 22 years to build and was put into use on September 25th, 20th16th.

It is the largest single-aperture and most sensitive radio telescope in the world, which is led by the National Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences and has independent intellectual property rights in China. The comprehensive performance is ten times that of the famous radio telescope Arecibo.

Significance of 500-meter spherical surface construction in Pingtang, Guizhou;

The significance of the 500-meter spherical surface construction in Pingtang, Guizhou Province promotes the development of many high-tech fields, and improves the original innovation ability, integrated innovation ability and the ability to introduce, digest, absorb and innovate again. Its construction and operation will promote the economic prosperity and social progress in the western region, which is in line with the overall national regional development strategy.

With an antenna aperture of 500 meters, FAST will be the largest single aperture telescope in the world. Compared with Bonn 100m telescope, which is known as "the largest machine on the ground", the sensitivity is improved by about 10 times.

If the celestial bodies are evenly distributed in space, the number of fast observable targets will increase by about 30 times. Compared with the American Arecibo 300-meter telescope, the sensitivity of FAST is 2.25 times higher.

Moreover, the working limit of Arecibo 20 zenith angle limits the observation sky area, especially the network observation ability. It can be predicted that FAST will maintain the status of world-class equipment in the next 20 to 30 years, attract first-class talents and cutting-edge scientific research projects at home and abroad, and become an international astronomical academic exchange center.