Home>News Center>China
       
 

World-class observatory planned in Tibet
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-01-11 21:21

A top astronomer says China may build a world-class observatory in the southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, better known as the "spine of the world."

A file photo shows local residents pose for photograph in the Ngari Prefecture of Tibet on April 27, 2004. [newpshoto]
A preliminary survey has found the Sengge Zangbo town in Ngari Prefecture, western Tibet, may be the ideal place to launch the world's largest and most advanced telescope with a calibre of up to 100 metres, said Ai Guoxiang, who heads the National Astronomical Observatories.

"The crown of the 21st century's ground-based astronomy will be on China if further investigation finds the same results," said Ai, also an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

An alternative location for the new observatory could be Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Northwest China, he added.

Chinese astronomers will carry out observations from fixed positions in these two places for a year or two before the final decision is made, Ai said.

"When the location is confirmed, we suggest China co-operates with some countries in building an optical/infrared telescope with a calibre of 10 metres," he said.

The astronomer said China is also considering building a new generation telescope with a calibre between 30 and 100 metres with international co-operation. "On whose basis we'll build the observatory," he said.

Such a large telescope will make furthest parts of the universe visible to the human eye and help unravel some of the mysteries of the origins of celestial bodies and the entire universe, said He Jinxin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The researcher said the Tibetan town of Sengge Zangbo is an ideal location because it is on the "roof of the world" and surrounded by mountains 4,800 metres above sea level. It is quiet, dry and usually has clear night skies.



 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Cross-Straits charter flights promising

 

   
 

China's tax revenue up 25.7% in 2004

 

   
 

Hopes for peace rise as Abbas wins votes

 

   
 

China tycoon donates $1.2m for tsunami aid

 

   
 

Yushchenko declared winner of Ukraine vote

 

   
 

China baby pooh-poohs diaper ad offers

 

   
  Urbanization may cause geological disasters
   
  Swindlers get away with 3 million yuan
   
  Draft law promotes use of renewable energy
   
  Doctors under protection: scheme launched
   
  Polar explorers climb peak of Antarctica
   
  China tycoon donates $1.2m for tsunami aid
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Check Tibet through your computer
   
Tibet reports big increase in foreign investment
   
Tibet reports big increase in foreign investment
   
US slammed over 'Tibetan political criminals'
   
Truck overturn kills 10, injures 11 in Tibet
   
Environmental activists donates for Tibetan farmers
   
US$660m poured into Qinghai-Tibet railway
  News Talk  
  It is time to prepare for Beijing - 2008  
Advertisement