China’s first 1-meter-wide sky survey telescope with subsecond sampling and large field of view has been completed.
2026-09-05 08:00Products & Apps🔥 42.2 heat score
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On September 5, 2026, “Tianyu”, China’s first 1-meter-class sky survey telescope with subsecond sampling and large field of view, was officially completed. Led by the Lee Tsung-Dao Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and developed by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this telescope was approved for development in 2022. It is a precursor project to JUST (Shanghai Jiao Tong University Spectroscopic Telescope) and is located at the Qinghai Lenghuo Astronomical Observation and Research Base, alongside the currently under construction 4-meter-class spectroscopic telescope. “Tianyu” is operated jointly by the JUST team from the Lee Tsung-Dao Institute. Equipped with an internationally advanced large-mirror scientific camera, it can cover nearly 9 square degrees of sky per shot. Its first image was created by combining 200 images exposed for 0.3 seconds, and its detection sensitivity is approximately one million times higher than the limit of the human eye. Currently, “Tianyu” is undergoing continuous photometric monitoring to capture subtle changes in brightness, with the aim of detecting targets such as exoplanets, variable stars, supernovae, and small celestial bodies in the solar system.
China’s first 1-meter-class sky survey telescope with subsecond sampling and large field of view has been completed. This telescope was led by the Lee Teng-hui Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and developed by the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the project approved in 2022. The Tianyu telescope is China’s first 1-meter-class sky survey telescope with subsecond sampling and large field of view, and it also serves as a precursor to the JUST (Shanghai Jiao Tong University Spectroscopic Telescope). The first image captured demonstrates Tianyu’s core capabilities: its 1-meter-diameter primary mirror, combined with an internationally advanced large-area scientific camera, can cover nearly 9 square degrees of sky in a single shot, equivalent to the area of over 40 full moons. The first image was created by combining 200 images exposed for 0.3 seconds, enabling detection of celestial objects about a million times darker than the limit of human vision. Tianyu plans to conduct continuous photometric monitoring of hundreds of millions of celestial objects, capturing subtle changes in brightness to discover exoplanets, various variable stars, supernovae, and small solar system bodies. The Tianyu telescope will be located at the Qinghai Lenghuo Astronomical Observation and Research Base, where the 4-meter-class JUST spectroscopic telescope is also under construction. Both telescopes will be operated under the unified management of the JUST team from the Lee Teng-hui Institute. The project leader of JUST…