Telescope giant FAST in China participated in the 'international hunt' to seek extraterrestrial life

The hunt for radio signals from smart aliens has just received an "international" incentive . Breakthrough Initiatives , a series of private sponsors of a long-term astronomical program, will work with the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) to " Wipe out "the sky with some of the world's most powerful telescopes, looking for signs of intelligent life .

FAST, the world's largest radio telescope, participated in the "hunt" for signs of extraterrestrial life.Photo Source: FAST

"' Are we alone?' is a question that links us like a planet "- Yuri Milner , Russian billionaire investor and founder of the program Breakthrough Initiatives, said in a report. When working together, the two organizations will use telescopes in the United States, Australia and China to hunt for signals from alien civilizations.

" And the search to answer that question should also take place within the planet. With this agreement, we are looking for space friends with the world's three largest telescopes on three continents. "Milner added.

The world's largest telescope

" Does life exist outside the earth? " Has long been a question for most scientists and writers, but until 50 years ago, people began to search for answer. Because some radio signals can only be created in an artificial way, and radio telescopes are among the most commonly used tools in this hunt.

In July 2015, the award called the Breakthrough Prize Foundation launched the most comprehensive astronomical search for smart life ever made, the award committed to cost up to $ 100 million over the next decade. This project, called Breakthrough Listen , in conjunction with the giant Green Bank radio telescope located in West Virginia (USA), Australia's Parkes Observatory and Lick Observatory in California. The observation device at the Parkes Observatory and the Green Bank is dedicated to the search for radio signals, while the Lick Observatory participates in optical wavelength hunting.

Although not part of the Breakthrough Listen project, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has spent a considerable amount of time - over half a century, searching for extraterrestrial life . Rather than devoting time to searching for signals , small sub-satellites (piggybacks) in other scientific searches, "scanning" any part of the sky is allocated to other researchers.

Currently, the world's largest single radio telescope has participated in this hunt. The " Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope - FAST " telescope in Guizhou province of China, has partnered with the Breakthrough Listen project to hunt for signals from space, the agreement was signed in North Kinh. This massive astronomical device observed the first light a few weeks ago, September 25, 2016. Along with that, the organization will exchange observation plans, search methods and data. , as well as holding a series of meetings and conferences to improve their methods.

Jun Yan - NAOC's General Manager, said: " The FAST telescope is the world's largest single tool, one of the most powerful tools to find the potential for intelligent extraterrestrial life ."

According to an online comparison report by Robert Williams , a mechanical engineer at Ohio University, the giant device is much more sensitive than the smaller Arecibo disc telescope. As soon as the largest single device was used, the Arecibo disk was only symbolic compared to the Chinese telescope. Besides, Williams also said: " The FAST telescope has nearly twice the wide diameter of the Arecibo disc telescope ".

" Made up of 4,450 panels, FAST telescopes are as big as 30 football pitches ," China's Xinhua news agency reported earlier this year. " Although the array of versatile telescopes can grow larger than the new tools - the world's largest single-aperture telescope, and can detect signals farther away than the Arecibo telescope " , Williams said.

"The FAST telescope is a remarkable tool with unprecedented power. We are excited to work with NAOC," said Pete Worden , executive director of Breakthrough Initiatives.