Interview: China's growing radio astronomy capacity helps push frontiers of cosmic exploration, Polish astronomer says
Polish astronomer Aleksander Wolszczan highlights the potential of China's FAST telescope in advancing cosmic exploration and pulsar research. He suggests the telescope is uniquely positioned to search for magnetic fields on exoplanets, which could indicate potential for life.
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International scientific collaboration and the development of advanced infrastructure are critical for breakthroughs in astrophysics and the search for extraterrestrial life.
KRAKOW, Poland, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's growing radio astronomy capacity, led by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), can help scientists tackle some of astronomy's biggest unanswered questions, renowned Polish astronomer Aleksander Wolszczan has said.
"FAST has already been playing a really decisive role in investigating properties of pulsars," Wolszczan said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Wolszczan's observations led to the first confirmed discovery of planets outside the solar system more than three decades ago, and he spent years using the Arecibo radio telescope, once regarded as one of the world's best instruments for studying pulsars.
After Arecibo ceased operations, FAST has taken over much of that role, he said.
"FAST is now the pulsar radio telescope," Wolszczan said, describing it as "bigger, more sensitive" than Arecibo and able to follow a source in the sky for longer.
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