FAST: Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope

 
 
Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is a Chinese mega-science project which aims to build a 500-meter diameter active reflector radio telescope in a karst depression in Guizhou province, to achieve wide sky-coverage and high sensitivity for astronomical observations. The construction of FAST started on March 25, 2011 and finished on September 25, 2016 as planned. It is by far the largest single dish radio telescope in the world. On January 11, 2020, FAST passed national evaluation and began formal operation. All the technical specification met or exceeded the design specification. Acclaimed as the China Sky Eye, FAST is the world’s largest single-dish and the most sensitive radio telescope with China's own intellectual property.
 
The main scientific fields of FAST include: survey the neutral hydrogen; pulsar searching; dominate the VLBI network in low frequencies; detect interstellar molecules; SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). Its unparalleled sensitivity and excellent survey speed will enable astronomers to vastly expand the observational parameter space of compact objects, gaseous galaxies and interstellar medium.
 
By September 30th, 2020, the number of pulsars discovered by FAST reached 224, and more than 40 high-quality papers were published, fulfilling the requirement of "early results" of General Secretary Xi. The "more results" stage has begun.
 
Recent FAST publications:
[1] Peng Jiang, YouLing Yue, HengQian Gan, Rui Yao, Hui Li, GaoFeng Pan, JingHai Sun, DongJun Yu, HongFei Liu, NingYu Tang, Lei Qian, JiGuang Lu, Jun Yan, Bo Peng, ShuXin Zhang, QiMing Wang, Qi Li, Di Li, and FAST Collaboration. Commissioning progress of the FAST.  SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5:959502.
[2] JiGuang Lu, Bo Peng, Kuo Liu, Peng Jiang, YouLing Yue, Meng Yu, Ye-Zhao Yu, FeiFei Kou, Lin Wang, and FAST Collaboration. Study of three rotating radio transients with FAST. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5:959503.
[3] Ye-Zhao Yu, Bo Peng, Kuo Liu, ChengMin Zhang, Lin Wang, FeiFei Kou, JiGuang Lu, Meng Yu, and FAST Collaboration. FAST ultra-wideband observation of abnormal emission-shift events of PSR B0919+06. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5: 959504.
[4] JiGuang Lu, Bo Peng, RenXin Xu, Meng Yu, Shi Dai, WeiWei Zhu, Ye-Zhao Yu, Peng Jiang, YouLing Yue, Lin Wang, and FAST Collaboration. The radiation structure of PSR B2016+28 observed with FAST. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5: 959505.
[5] Kai Zhang, JingWen Wu, Di Li, Marko Kr?o, Lister Staveley-Smith, NingYu Tang, Lei Qian, MengTing Liu, ChengJin Jin, YouLing Yue, Yan Zhu, HongFei Liu, DongJun Yu, JingHai Sun, GaoFeng Pan, Hui Li, HengQian Gan, Rui Yao, and FAST Collaboration. Status and perspectives of the CRAFTS extra-galactic HI survey. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5: 959506.
[6] HongFeng Wang, WeiWei Zhu, Ping Guo, Di Li, SiBo Feng, Qian Yin, ChenChen Miao, ZhenZhao Tao, ZhiChen Pan, Pei Wang, Xin Zheng, XiaoDan. Pulsar candidate selection using ensemble networks for FAST drift-scan survey. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5: 959507.
[7] Lei Qian, ZhiChen Pan, Di Li, George Hobbs, WeiWei Zhu, Pei Wang, ZhiJie Liu, YouLing Yue, Yan Zhu, HongFei Liu, DongJun Yu, JingHai Sun, Peng Jiang, GaoFeng Pan, Hui Li, HengQian Gan, Rui Yao, XiaoYao Xie, Fernando Camilo, Andrew Cameron, Lei Zhang, Shen Wang, and FAST Collaboration. The first pulsar discovered by FAST. SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2019, Vol62, 5: 959508.
[8] Lei Zhang, Di Li, George Hobbs, Crispin H. Agar, Richard N. Manchester, Patrick Weltevrede, William A. Coles, Pei Wang, Weiwei Zhu, Zhigang Wen, Jianping Yuan, Andrew D. Cameron, Shi Dai, Kuo Liu, Qijun Zhi, Chenchen Miao, Mao Yuan, Shuyun Cao, Li Feng, Hengqian Gan, Long Gao, Xuedong Gu, Minglei Guo, Qiaoli Hao, Lin Huang, Peng Jiang, Chengjin Jin, Hui Li, Qi Li, Qisheng Li, Hongfei Liu, Gaofeng Pan, Zhichen Pan, Bo Peng, Hui Qian, Lei Qian, Xiangwei Shi, Jinyou Song, Liqiang Song, Caihong Sun, Jinghai Sun, Hong Wang, Qiming Wang, Yi Wang, Xiaoyao Xie, Jun Yan, Li Yang, Shimo Yang, Rui Yao, Dongjun Yu, Jinglong Yu, Youling Yue, Chengmin Zhang, Haiyan Zhang, Shuxin Zhang, Xiaonian Zheng, Aiying Zhou, Boqin Zhu, Lichun Zhu, Ming Zhu,Wenbai Zhu, and Yan Zhu. PSR J1926-0652: A Pulsar with Interesting Emission Properties Discovered at FAST. The Astrophysical Journal, 2019, Vol877, 5:1-13.
[9] Zhichen Pan, Scott M. Ransom, Duncan R. Lorimer, William C. Fiore, Lei Qian, Lin Wang, Benjamin W. Stappers, George Hobbs, Weiwei Zhu, Youling Yue, Pei Wang, Jiguang Lu, Kuo Liu, Bo Peng, Lei Zhang, and Di Li. The FAST Discovery of an Eclipsing Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster M92 (NGC 6341). The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2020.3, Vol829, L6:1-5.
[10] Lin Wang, Bo Peng, B. W. Stappers, Kuo Liu, M. J. Keith, A. G. Lyne, Jiguang Lu, Ye-Zhao Yu, Feifei Kou, Jun Yan, Peng Jiang, Chengjin Jin, Di Li, Qi Li, Lei Qian, Qiming Wang, Youling Yue, Haiyan Zhang, Shuxin Zhang, and Yan Zhu (The FAST collaboration). Discovery and Timing of Pulsars in the Globular Cluster M13 with FAST. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020, Vol892, 43:1-10.
[11] Zhi-Song Zhang, Dan Werthimer, Tong-Jie Zhang, Jeff Cobb, Eric Korpela, David Anderson, Vishal Gajjar, Ryan Lee, Shi-Yu Li, Xin Pei, Xin-Xin Zhang, Shi-Jie Huang, Pei Wang, Yan Zhu, Ran Duan, Hai-Yan Zhang, Cheng-jin Jin, Li-Chun Zhu, and Di Li. First SETI Observations with China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). The Astrophysical Journal, 2020, Vol891, 174:1-16.
[12]` Weiwei Zhu, Di Li, Rui Luo, Chenchen Miao, Bing Zhang, Laura Spitler, Duncan Lorimer, Michael Kramer, David Champion, Youling Yue, Andrew Cameron, Marilyn Cruces, Ran Duan, Yi Feng, Jun Han, George Hobbs, Chenhui Niu, Jiarui Niu, Zhichen Pan, Lei Qian, Dai Shi, Ningyu Tang, Pei Wang, Hongfeng Wang, Mao Yuan, Lei Zhang, Xinxin Zhang, Shuyun Cao, Li Feng, Hengqian Gan, Long Gao, Xuedong Gu, Minglei Guo, Qiaoli Hao, Lin Huang, Menglin Huang, Peng Jiang, Chengjin Jin, Hui Li, Qi Li, Qisheng Li, Hongfei Liu, Gaofeng Pan, Bo Peng, Hui Qian, Xiangwei Shi, Jinyuo Song, Liqiang Song, Caihong Sun, Jinghai Sun, Hong Wang, Qiming Wang, Yi Wang, Xiaoyao Xie, Jun Yan, Li Yang, Shimo Yang, Rui Yao, Dongjun Yu, Jinglong Yu, Chengmin Zhang, Haiyan Zhang, Shuxin Zhang, Xiaonian Zheng, Aiying Zhou, Boqin Zhu, Lichun Zhu, Ming Zhu, Wenbai Zhu, and Yan Zhu. A Fast Radio Burst Discovered in FAST Drift Scan Survey. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2020, Vol895, L6:1-7.
[13] Cheng Cheng, Edo Ibar, Wei Du, Juan Molina, Gustavo Orellana-Gonzáles, Bo Zhang, Ming Zhu, Cong Kevin Xu, Shumei Wu, Tianwen Cao, Jia-Sheng Huang, Roger Leiton, Thomas M. Hughes, Chuan He, Zijian Li, Hai Xu, Y. Sophia Dai, Xu Shao, and Marat Musin. The atomic gas of star-forming galaxies at z ~0.05 as revealed by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2020, Vol638, L14:1-7.
[14] A. D. Cameron, D. Li, G. Hobbs, L. Zhang, C. C. Miao, J. B. Wang, M. Yuan, S. Wang, G. Jacobs Corban, M. Cruces, S. Dai, Y. Feng, J. Han, J. F. Kaczmarek, J. R. Niu, Z. C. Pan, L. Qian, Z. Z. Tao, P. Wang, S. Q. Wang, H. Xu, R. X. Xu, Y. L. Yue, S. B. Zhang, Q. J. Zhi, W. W. Zhu, D. J. Champion, M. Kramer, S. Q. Zhou, K. P. Qiu, and M. Zhu. An in-depth investigation of 11 pulsars discovered by FAST. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2020, Vol495, 3:3515-3530.
[15] Peng Jiang, Ning-Yu Tang, Li-Gang Hou, Meng-Ting Liu, Marko Kr?o, Lei Qian, Jing-Hai Sun, Tao-Chung Ching, Bin Liu, Yan Duan, You-Ling Yue, Heng-Qian Gan, Rui Yao, Hui Li, Gao-Feng Pan, Dong-Jun Yu, Hong-Fei Liu, Di Li, Bo Peng, Jun Yan, FAST Collaboration. The fundamental performance of FAST with 19-beam receiver at L band. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:64.
[16] Hui Li, Peng Jiang. An open-loop control algorithm of the active reflector system of FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:65.
[17] Li-Qiang Song, Peng Jiang, Qi-Ming Wang, Lei Yang. Research on key technologies for installation and maintenance of reflector of FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:66.
[18] Qing-Wei Li, Peng Jiang, Hui Li. Prognostics and health management of FAST cable-net structure based on digital twin technology. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:67.
[19] Rui Yao, Peng Jiang, Jing-Hai Sun, Dong-Jun Yu, Chun Sun. A motion planning algorithm for the feed support system of FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:68.
[20] Heng-Qian Gan, Peng Jiang, Kai Zhu, Jing-Hai Sun, Rui Yao, Dong-Jun Yu. Simulation of FAST EM performance for both the axial and lateral feed defocusing. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:69.
[21] Jing-Long Yu, You-Ling Yue, Jian-Bin Li. Design and optimization of cross bow-tie dipole feed with cavity for FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:70.
[22] Jin Fan, Kai Zhu, Heng-Qian Gan, Peng Jiang, Jian Yang, Yang Cao, Hang Zhang, Ming-Lei Guo, Xiang-Wei Shi, Hong-Fei Liu. Development of wideband orthomode transducers for FAST cryogenic receiver system. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:71.
[23] Kai Zhu, Jin Fan, Kun Liang, Wei Tang, Zhi-Sheng Gao, Yan Zhu, Yi Feng, Wei-Wei Zhu, Lei Qian, You-Ling Yue, Jin-You Song, Xiang-Wei Shi, Xing-Yi Wang, Ming-Lei Guo, Hang Zhang, Heng-Qian Gan, Hong-Fei Liu, Cheng-Jin Jin, Peng Jiang. The time and frequency standard system for FAST receivers. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:72.
[24] Xin-Xin Zhang, Ran Duan, Xin-Ying Yu, Di Li, Ning-Yu Tang, Tao-Chung Ching. The design of China Reconfigurable ANalog-digital backEnd for FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:73.
[25] Ru-Rong Chen, Hai-Yan Zhang, Cheng-Jin Jin, Zhi-Sheng Gao, Yan Zhu, Kai Zhu, Peng Jiang, You-Ling Yue, Ji-Guang Lu, Bo Zhang, Wu Jiang, Ren-Jie Zhu, Shao-Guang Guo, Bo Xia, Rong-Bin Zhao, FAST Collaboration. FAST VLBI: current status and future plans. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:74.
[26] Hai-Yan Zhang, Ming-Chang Wu, You-Ling Yue, Heng-Qian Gan, Hao Hu, Shi-Jie Huang, Xin-Xin Zhang, Jin-Hai Sun, Bo Peng, Ren-Dong Nan, FAST Collaboration. RFI measurements and mitigation for FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:75.
[27] Ju-Mei Yao, Wei-Wei Zhu, Pei Wang, Di Li, Ji-Guang Lu, Fei-Fei Kou, Ye-Zhao Yu, Bo Peng, FAST Collaboration. FAST interstellar scintillation observation of PSR B1929+10 and PSR B1842+14. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:76.
[28] Ning-Yu Tang, Pei Zuo, Di Li, Lei Qian, Tie Liu, Yue-Fang Wu, Marko Kr?o, Meng-Ting Liu, You-Ling Yue, Yan Zhu, Hong-Fei Liu, Dong-Jun Yu, Jing-Hai Sun, Peng Jiang, Gao-Feng Pan, Hui Li, Heng-Qian Gan, Rui Yao, Shu Liu, FAST Collaboration. Pilot HI survey of Planck Galactic Cold Clumps with FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:77.
[29] Di Li, Vishal Gajjar, Pei Wang, Andrew Siemion, Zhi-Song Zhang, Hai-Yan Zhang, You-Ling Yue, Yan Zhu, Cheng-Jin Jin, Shi-Yu Li, Sabrina Berger, Bryan Brzycki, Jeff Cobb, Steve Croft, Daniel Czech, David DeBoer, Julia DeMarines, Jamie Drew, J. Emilio Enriquez, Nectaria Gizani, Eric J. Korpela, Howard Isaacson, Matthew Lebofsky, Brian Lacki, David H. E. MacMahon, Morgan Nanez, Chenhui Niu, Xin Pei, Danny C. Price, Dan Werthimer, Pete Worden, Yunfan Gerry Zhang, Tong-Jie Zhang, FAST Collaboration. Opportunities to search for extraterrestrial intelligence with the FAST. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2020, Vol20, 5:78.
[30] LEI Zheng, WANG Qiming, GAN Hengqian, ZHU Ming, JIANG Peng. Filtration System for Hydraulic Actuators of FAST [J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2020, 56(4): 218-223.
[31] Jin-Long Xu, Ye Xu, Peng Jiang, Ming Zhu, Xin Guan, Naiping Yu, Guo-Yin Zhang, and Deng-Rong Lu. First Embedded Cluster Formation in California Molecular Cloud. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2020, Vol893, L5:1-6.
[32] Rui Yao, Caihong Sun, Wenbai Zhu. Accuracy design of the Stewart manipulator of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 2019, (11)4.
[33] Jin Fan, Kai Zhu, Yihua Yan. Compact wideband bowtie dipole orthomode transducer. Microwave and Optical Technology Letters. 2019, (61)4.
[34] Haiyan Zhang, Mingchang Wu, Youling Yue, Henqian Gan, Hao Hu, Shijie Huang, Jinghai Sun, Jinyou Song, Po Peng, Rendong Nan. RFI Mitigation of FAST: Challenge & Solution. 2019 URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference[C], 2019.
[35] Ru-Rong Chen, Haiyan Zhang, Zhichen Pan, Youling Yue, Jiguang Lu, Bo Zhang. Proposed VLBI Study on Pulsars Discovered by FAST. 2019 URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference[C], 2019.
[36] Youling Yue and Di Li. Big Data Challenges of FAST. Big Scientific Data Management, First International Conference[C], 2019.
[37] Bo Zhang, Jian Xiao, Ce Yu, Qi Luo, Zhicheng Yang and Ming Zhu. Progress on FAST Extragalactic Survey Data Reduction Pipeline. Proceedings of the 2018 Radio Astronomy Forum: FAST-MeerKAT and SKA Pathfinders Synergies[C], 2019.
[38] Rui Yao, Jinghai Sun, Chun Sun. A source switching planning method for the feed support system of FAST. 2019 16th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR) [C], 2019.
[39] Hui LI, Mingzhe LI. An expreimental study on control accuracy of FAST cable robot following zigzag astronimical trajectory. Conference on Cable-Driven Parallel Robots[C], 2019.
[40] ChengMin Zhang, YiYan Yang. The masses of 18 pairs of double neutron stars and implications for their origin. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union[C], 2019.
 

Aerial View of FAST

 

FAST Group Photo, September 25th, 2016

 

The First Pulsar Discovered by FAST

 

Tracking Observations of FRB 121102