China commences development of high-precision telescope venture on “roof of the world”-Xinhua

This photograph taken on Sept. 20, 2025 reveals the launch website of the development of a brand new massive astronomical remark venture, the Xue-shan-mu-chang 15-meter SubMillimeter Telescope (XSMT), in Delingha, northwest China’s Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Chen Jie)

XINING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — China on Saturday launched the development of a brand new massive astronomical remark venture, the Xue-shan-mu-chang 15-meter SubMillimeter Telescope (XSMT).

Situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this venture goals to boost the nation’s capabilities in exploring the chilly, hidden universe by establishing a high-precision facility that addresses a notable hole in its present astronomical infrastructure.

With a diameter of 15 meters, the telescope will likely be situated within the metropolis of Delingha, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, at an altitude of 4,800 meters. Led by the Nanjing-based Purple Mountain Observatory beneath the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the venture is scheduled to be accomplished in 2027.

In the universe, the formation processes of stars and planets are steadily obscured by interstellar mud, which conventional optical telescopes can not penetrate. However, submillimeter wave amenities are able to unveiling the chilly, darkish interstellar atomic and molecular gases that lie hidden inside this mud. They cannot solely reveal the legal guidelines of galaxy formation and evolution but additionally hint the origin clues of molecules associated to cosmic life.

Submillimeter wave observations have strict necessities for the positioning situations, and one is that the atmospheric water vapor content material above it ought to stay low and steady.

According to scientists, the positioning of the telescope is situated within the coronary heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, referred to as “the roof of the world,” that includes situations similar to excessive altitude, minimal human interference and very low water vapor, making it an excellent location for observations.

China lacks self-built and recurrently operational remark amenities within the subject of submillimeter wave astronomy. The deliberate XSMT will fill this hole and help China’s frontier astronomical analysis, scientists mentioned.

Li Jing, a researcher at Purple Mountain Observatory, mentioned the XSMT will deal with 4 scientific instructions: extragalactic astronomy, Milky Way construction, time-domain astronomy and astrochemistry.

Scientists additionally outlined the venture background, development progress and future growth plans in an article revealed on Friday within the English-language journal SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy.

As China’s first self-developed superior submillimeter wave telescope, as soon as accomplished, the XSMT is anticipated to affix the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope, an Earth-sized digital telescope community, contributing to the seize of dynamic photographs of black holes and enhancing China’s worldwide competitiveness in astronomy, the article mentioned. ■

This picture reveals the brand new massive astronomical remark venture, the Xue-shan-mu-chang 15-meter SubMillimeter Telescope (XSMT). (Xinhua)

An aerial drone photograph taken on Sept. 20, 2025 reveals the launch website of the development of a brand new massive astronomical remark venture, the Xue-shan-mu-chang 15-meter SubMillimeter Telescope (XSMT), in Delingha, northwest China’s Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Chen Jie)