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China's 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) is now openly soliciting applications for the observation season from August 2024 to July 2025.

The reporter learned from the official website of China Sky Eye FAST (fast.bao.ac.cn) that the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) is now openly soliciting applications for the observation season from August 2024 to July 2025. The application channel for free observation projects has been opened on It will open on April 6, 2024, and the deadline for accepting applications is 24:00 on May 15, 2024, Beijing time. During this period, scientists from all over the world can log in to the application system through the official website to submit applications.

FAST measurement and control engineer Sun Chun told reporters that FAST observes no less than 5,000 hours per year. So far, it has undertaken project applications for scientific goals such as pulsar search, pulsar timing, neutral hydrogen survey, and fast radio burst. By the beginning of this year, FAST had searched for more than 890 pulsars, and the data is still rising. As the telescope observation time accumulates, relevant scientific results continue to emerge, and now it has entered the stage of producing multiple results.

It is understood that since FAST was officially opened for operation in January 2020, it has basically completed its fourth scientific observation season, and has received a total of free observation applications from astronomers from 15 countries.