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China's FAST telescope detects coherent interstellar magnetic field
CGTN
Aerial photo shows a view of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province, December 19, 2021. /Xinhua

Aerial photo shows a view of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province, December 19, 2021. /Xinhua

Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), also dubbed as the "China Sky Eye," scientists have obtained accurate magnetic field strength in molecular cloud, a region of the interstellar medium that seems ready to form stars.

Employing the technique of HI Narrow Self Absorption (HINSA), they achieved a clear detection of the Zeeman effect – the splitting of a spectral line into several components of frequency in the presence of a magnetic field. It is the only direct probe of interstellar magnetic field strength.

The result suggested that such clouds achieve supercritical state, a point when they collapse into stars, happened earlier than previously thought based on the standard model.

The study was published in Nature on Thursday.

Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST started operation in January 2020.

Using FAST, scientists have identified 509 new pulsars, which is four times of the total amount of pulsars identified by other telescopes around the world.

Pulsars, or fast-spinning neutron stars, originate from the imploded cores of massive dying stars through supernova explosions. With their high density and fast rotation, they are an ideal laboratory for studying the laws of physics in extreme environments.

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(With input from Xinhua)

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