The largest scale in the world, China's circular array radio telescope successfully detected pulsars

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen grass Luo Yuzi for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, April 3, according to the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently, the Daicheng Circular Array Solar Radio Imaging Telescope (DSRT), which is in the stage of system debugging, carried out China's first pulsar detection experiment based on radio image sequences, successfully identifying pulsar flashes from continuous radio images.

According to reports, DSRT is a solar radio monitoring "synthetic aperture camera" independently developed in China, which works in the frequency band of 150-450MHz. The system adopts unique ring array configuration and original single-channel multi-loop absolute phase calibration technology, which can monitor solar burst activity with high quality, realize continuous imaging spectrum observation, and provide independent data for solar physics and space weather research.

The DSRT array consists of 313 6-meter aperture paraboloid antennas, all of which are uniformly distributed on a ring with a diameter of 1000 meters. It is the largest synthetic aperture radio imaging telescope in the world. Since March 2021, in line with the principle of "building, debugging and running", DSRT has obtained a large number of solar activity images and spectrum data, and has the ability to monitor the sun with high quality.

On March 28, using the 146 unit antennas that have been initially integrated, Wu Lin, deputy researcher of the Radio Frequency Detection Research Group of the key Laboratory of Solar activity and Space Weather of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led a team to carry out pulsar observation. The continuous radio image sequence was successfully obtained, and the flicker of pulsar J0332-5434 in the image was identified. The positioning accuracy of pulsar reached 1.8 cents. The ability of DSRT for pulsar detection is preliminarily verified, which lays a foundation for expanding the application of DSRT.

CTOnews.com Note: Daocheng Ring Array Solar Radio Imaging Telescope, located in Daocheng, Ganzi, Sichuan Province, is a landmark equipment of the space environment foundation comprehensive monitoring network of national major scientific and technological infrastructure (Meridian Project Phase II).