Astronomy is as big as 30 football fields in China

On July 25, China began installing a 500-meter radio telescope, believed to be the world's largest in the mountains of Guizhou Province, China.

China installs telescopes as big as 30 football fields

The telescope has a pan area of ​​30 football pitches, assembled by 4,450 triangular plates of 11 m length each, said China.org.cn website.

The world's largest telescope is being installed in Guizhou, China - (Xinhua screenshot).

When the installation was completed, the telescope named FAST would be larger than the Arecibo astronomical observatory in Puerto Rico, about 300 meters in diameter.

Nan Rendong, the FAST project manager, said that the larger the pan, the easier it would be to receive extremely small, weak signals. ' A sensitive telescope-like radio that hears signals from the universe. It could also determine the sound of cicadas during a storm, " Nan said.

The pan is under construction, shaped like a back bowl . "There are three hills located about 500 meters apart, creating a valley that is perfect for telescopes installation, " said Sun Caihong, FAST's chief engineer.

Large pans are hung by thousands of steel pillars and cables. A hilltop viewing area is being built for use by the public. Wu Xiangping, general manager of the Chinese Astronomical Society , said that for many years Chinese scientists had to work with data from other countries' telescopes.

"There is a more sensitive telescope, we can receive weaker and farther radio signals. It will help us find intelligent life outside the galaxy and explore the origin of the universe , " he said. Wu said.