World's largest ring of telescopes, Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope: All you need to know

China has taken another step into the progress towards space exploration with its ring of telescopes and plans to venture deep into the permanently shadowed regions of the moon and the flying objects in the asteroid.

China is progressing relentlessly. 

Key takeaways

1. China has completed the formation of the Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope.
2. This telescope has been developed as a part of the space environment monitoring network.
3. The widespread arrangement of the telescope will enable it to capture weaker signals.

What is The Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope? 

Beijing's fresh facility to examine the universe, its ring of telescopes made for exploring the secrets of the sun is now ready. The Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope (DSRT) which is on the Tibetan Plateau will be tested during the beginning of June next year.

The cost of the telescope is estimated to be of $14 million. The observatory will be used in research and analysis of the Sun and its effects on space and Earth's environment.

The facility is a network of 313 dishes that span in a six meter wide range and these lined dishes will study the sun in detail.

The circumference of this ring is 3.14 kilometers to be precise.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Initially the  telescope will image the Sun in radio waves and analyze not just large eruptions, but also the altering motion of the stars in our solar system.
2. The telescope is developed as a part of the ground-based space environment monitoring network dubbed the Chinese Meridian Project (Phase II).
3. This project also encompasses the Mingantu interplanetary scintillation telescope. It is being evaluated in Inner Mongolia with 100 dishes in a three-arm spiral structure.
4. However the Daocheng telescope will concentrate on understanding the mechanisms that cause the Coronal Mass Ejections, that occur after a star ejects a flare or an immediate and bright burst of radiation that can extend far out into space as the biggest eruption from the Sun's surface. This is called the coronal mass ejection.
5. The large circle of telescopes will facilitate it to seize weaker signals from particles that are high in energy.

Jingye Yan, the chief engineer of DSRT at the National Space Science Center stated

 “With this information, we may be able to forecast whether and when coronal mass ejections will reach Earth. DSRT’s observation data will be made available to international researchers," 

Why is it on the Tibetan plateau?

The establishment of the telescopes on The Tibetan plateau was chosen since it is the highest plateau on Earth. Its average elevation is over 4,000 meters. 

Due to this elevation, photometric conditions for observation are provided. The climate here is usually extremely arid with a strangely clear local sky.

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