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from the my-sights-adjusted-and-my-telescope-aimed dept.
Distant galaxies, dark matter, dark energy and the origin and evolution of the universe itself are some of the many scientific goals of China's newly announced space telescope. If all goes according to plan, the China Space Station Telescope (CSST) will blast off atop a Long March 5B rocket sometime in late 2023. Once in a safe orbit, CSST should begin observations in 2024. Judging by these research topics, it looks like the Chinese Academy of Sciences is throwing down an impressive scientific gauntlet for itself and its astronomers.
Given the potential scientific rewards, it's not surprising that China is joining the "big space telescope club." It's also a source of national pride, especially if they can "out-Hubble Hubble." For example, once CSST is operational, Chinese scientists hope to survey the sky and observe more than 1 billion galaxies. Their instruments should let them get highly precise measurements of galaxy shapes, positions and brightness. They'll use the telescope to go after exoplanets, star birth regions, and other distant objects, gathering incredible amounts of high-resolution data.
[Also Covered By]: Universe Today
[Source]: Chinese Academy of Sciences
[Presentation]: Chinese Survey Space Telescope Technical Presentation (2021) (PDF)
(Score: 3, Touché) by ikanreed on Wednesday May 11 2022, @08:47PM
It might surprise you to learn that the academic materials [seejournal.com.cn] about the telescope [opticsjournal.net] are mostly written in Chinese [bulletin.cas.cn], and that fan presentations aren't usually amazingly detailed or well attributed.