China’s Nanshan 26-Meter Radio Telescope Achieves New Breakthrough in VLBI Technology

On March 22, it was reported by the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the Nanshan 26-meter radio telescope recently participated in joint measurements with the European VLBI Network for the first time, successfully utilizing 4Gbps broadband, high-rate VLBI technology to obtain interference fringes. Compared to 2Gbps observations, this technology theoretically can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the image by about 1.4 times. This milestone signifies that the VLBI operational status of this telescope has reached the international cutting-edge level. Following this successful test, the Nanshan 26-meter radio telescope will gradually participate in more 4Gbps scientific observations with the European VLBI Network and the East Asian VLBI Network.

By Leung Lok, Science Daily, Image Source: Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences