Cornell Department of Astronomy & Space Sciences Spring 2021 Colloquium Series

"The Josephine Lawrence Hopkins Foundation Colloquium":

“From Arecibo to FAST"

Abstract: Inspired by the visionary efforts of building Arecibo and developed into one of the final four SKA concepts, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) was formally established as a stand-alone project in 2007. Through much trials and tribulation, FAST's construction commenced in 2011; achieved first light in 2016;  started normal operation in 2020. We will release the first internationally open call-for-proposa in the coming April.  I report here a few science highlights so far, particularly from the CRAFTS survey, which is an unprecedented large-scale commensal survey. Enabled by a novel calibration technique, CRAFTS simultaneously records pulsar, Galactic HI, extra-galactic HI, and transient data streams. CRAFTS has discovered more than 150 new pulsars, including at least one DNS system. We have imaged about 5% of the full sky, including the Lockman hole, the Orion region, etc. CRAFTS has also resulted in 5 new FRBs, including one high DM repeater that has been localized.