China will turn on its radio telescope, The FAST, to initiate its search for extraterrestrials.  The telescope is the world's largest of its kind.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is scheduled to become operational on Sept. 25. The telescope is expected to gather data from deep space, which may help in various scientific pursuits.

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The telescope is located in Guizhou Province of China. The telescope emits such powerful radiations that Chinese authorities decided to relocate people from nearby villages. According to the Express, Chinese authorities have completed their tests on the telescope and have found it to be ready to be launched. The telescope comes with a "feed cabin" which will be used for collecting and monitoring signals gathered from the deep space.

The telescope consists of 4.450 panels. It dethroned Puerto Rico's 300m-wide Arecibo Observatory to hold the position of the world's largest telescope. Its large radius gives the telescope an edge in discovering the faintest signals from the universe. According to CNN, The Fast has a field of vision almost twice as big as the Arecibo telescope.

Initially, the telescope will be used exclusively by the scientist for discovering the secrets of the universe. Later, it is expected to be opened to all researchers to track the space for alien presence.

The construction of the telescope was started in 2011 and cost China about $185 million. The telescope is capable of letting scientists detect gravitational waves as well as many more pulsars.

TagsFive hundred meter aperture spherical telescope, china, Guizhou, Arecibo Observatory