Why China’s alien hunting telescope could be the real beginning in the search for ET
CHINA recently upped the ante in the search for alien life in the Universe with the completion of the world’s largest telescope.
China have built the world's biggest telescope
The vast telescope is made up of 4,450 panels and with a width of 500m and represents a huge step in the search for alien life.
Chinese officials and any researcher from around the globe are free to use it. It boasts a vast telescope to scan the skies for signals that emanate from deep space.
Alien hunting has become a hot topic for scientists as they move to accept that the chances of life elsewhere in the Universe is extremely probable, but now finding it is the hard part.
As a result, the Chinese have invested £135million in the Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, and hope to be the first nation to make contact with aliens.
The FAST telescope under construction
Nonetheless, this project is huge for two key reasons.
Firstly, it reinforces China’s ambition to establish itself as a powerhouse in space exploration.
For decades, the US has taught us the majority of what we know about the Universe – from being the first to land on the moon in 1969, to its most recent groundbreaking project which saw it lock its Juno satellite into orbit around Jupiter.
However, as the economic powers drift across the North Pacific and through the East China Sea into the hands of China, the likelihood that the world’s most populous country will become the leader in space exploration is extremely likely.
Secondly, it is the most ambitious hunt for alien life there has ever been.
The US launched the Arecibo telescope in the 1960s which has provided scientists with a wealth of information.
The Arecibo telescope
For example, from the telescope, it has been learned that Mercury completes a rotation on its axis every 59 Earth days, which was quicker than expected.
In 1990, it discovered the first planets orbiting a star that wasn’t our Sun and then in 1999, SETI@home was launched at the telescope which allowed amateur astronomers to search the Universe.
Some four years later, an unnatural signal was detected which came from a distant galaxy.
Is there anything else out there?
With findings being so far slim, it may well be that the search for alien life starts now.
Zheng Xiaonian, deputy head of the National Astronomical Observation, said: "The project has the potential to search for more strange objects to better understand the origin of the universe and boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial life.”