500米口徑球面射電望遠鏡，位於貴州省黔南布依族苗族自治州平塘縣克度鎮大窩凼的喀斯特窪坑中，工程為國家重大科技基礎設施。
500米口徑球面射電望遠鏡：Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST)
大窩凼的喀斯特窪坑：the Dawodang karst depression
布依族苗族自治州：the autonomous prefecture of Miao and Buyi people
貴州省黔南：south Guizhou
國家重大科技基礎設施：a major national science and technology infrastructure project
500米口徑球面射電望遠鏡被譽為「中國天眼」，由我國天文學家南仁東於1994年提出構想，歷時22年建成，於2016年9月25日落成啟用。是由中國科學院國家天文臺主導建設，具有我國自主智慧財產權、世界最大單口徑、最靈敏的射電望遠鏡。
天眼："Heavenly Eye" or "The Eye of Heaven"
落成啟用：be set in motion/ put into use/ put into operation
自主智慧財產權：proprietary/ independent intellectual property rights
自2016年9月25日落成啟用以來，500米口徑球面射電望遠鏡——「中國天眼」共發現51顆脈衝星候選體，其中有11顆已被確認為新脈衝星。FAST口徑500m，面積約30個足球場大小。FAST將在未來20~30年保持世界領先地位。
脈衝星：pulsar
保持世界領先地位：lead the world
wiki 版介紹
Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), nicknamed Tianyan ("Heavenly Eye" or "The Eye of Heaven") is a radio telescope located in the Dawodang depression (大窩凼窪地), a natural basin in Pingtang County, Guizhou Province, southwest China. It consists of a fixed 500 m (1,600 ft) diameter dish constructed in a natural depression in the landscape. It is the world's largest filled-aperture radio telescope, and the second-largest single-dish aperture after the sparsely-filled RATAN-600 in Russia.
It has a novel design, using an active surface made of metal panels that can be tilted by a computer to help change the focus to different areas of the sky. The cabin containing the feed antenna suspended on cables above the dish is also moved using a digitally-controlled winch by the computer control system to steer the instrument to receive from different directions.
Construction on the FAST project began in 2011 and it achieved first light in September 2016. It is currently undergoing testing and commissioning. It observes at wavelengths of 10 cm to 4.3 m.
The telescope made its first discovery of two new pulsars in August 2017, barely 1 year after its first light. The new pulsars PSR J1859-01 and PSR J1931-02, which are also referred to as FAST pulsar #1 and #2 (FP1 and FP2), were detected on August 22 and 25 and are 16,000 and 4,100 light years away, respectively. They were independently confirmed by the Parkes Observatory in Australia on September 10. The telescope had detected dozens more pulsar candidates in space, and six other discoveries have been confirmed by other international organizations, taking its discovery total to nine by October 2017.
The telescope was first proposed in 1994. The project was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in July 2007. A 65-person village was relocated from the valley to make room for the telescope] and an additional 9,110 people living within a 5 km radius of the telescope were relocated to create a radio-quiet area. About 500 families tried to sue the local government. Villagers accused the government of forced demolitions, unlawful detentions and not giving compensation. The Chinese government spent around $269 million in poverty relief funds and bank loans for the relocation of the local residents, while the construction of the telescope itself cost $180 million.
On 26 December 2008, a foundation laying ceremony was held on the construction site. Construction started in March 2011, and the last panel was installed on the morning of 3 July 2016.
Testing and commissioning began with first light on 25 September 2016. The first observations are being done without the active primary reflector, configuring it in a fixed shape and using the Earth's rotation to scan the sky. Subsequent early science will take place at lower frequencies while the active surface is brought to its design accuracy; longer wavelengths are less sensitive to errors in reflector shape. It will take three years to calibrate the various instruments so it can become fully operational. Once it does, it will likely require hundreds of astronomers. However, due to the shortage of astronomers, the telescope will not operate at full capacity for a long time. As of 2017, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is searching for a qualified director of scientific operations for FAST, but is having difficulty filling the position.
Local government efforts to develop a tourist industry around the telescope are causing some concern among astronomers worried about nearby mobile telephones acting as sources of RFI. A projected 10 million tourists in 2017 will force officials to decide on the scientific mission versus the economic benefits of tourism.
The primary driving force behind the project was Nan Rendong (南仁東), a researcher with the Chinese National Astronomical Observatory, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He held the positions of chief scientist and chief engineer of the project. He passed away on 15 September 2017 in Boston due to lung cancer.