The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope Project and its Early Science Opportunities

TL;DR

The paper discusses the design, capabilities, and early science opportunities of FAST, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, highlighting its potential for groundbreaking astronomical discoveries.

Contribution

It provides an overview of FAST's design, scientific goals, and discusses initial limitations and early science opportunities for astronomical research.

Findings

FAST is the most sensitive low-frequency radio telescope upon completion.

Early science phase offers unique opportunities for astronomical discoveries.

Initial limitations are identified and discussed.

Abstract

The National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science (NAOC), has started building the largest antenna in the world. Known as FAST, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope is a Chinese mega-science project funded by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). FAST also represents part of Chinese contribution to the international efforts to build the square kilometer array (SKA). Upon its finishing around September of 2016, FAST will be the most sensitive single-dish radio telescope in the low frequency radio bands between 70 MHz and 3 GHz. The design specifications of FAST, its expected capabilities, and its main scientific aspirations were described in an overview paper by Nan et al. (2011). In this paper, we briefly review the design and the key science goals of FAST, speculate the likely limitations at the initial stages of FAST operation, and discuss the opportunities for astronomical discoveries in the so-called early science phase.