Taiwan's top science research institute to open observatory in Hawaii

台灣頂尖科學研究所擬在夏威夷開設天文台

Academia Sinica facility will monitor deep space radio bursts on Big Island

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s premier scientific research institute, Academia Sinica, is preparing to open a new facility for studying astronomy in Hawaii, with assistance from U.S. and Canadian organizations.

The Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) reached a deal with state authorities to use a two-acre site in Ka’u District on the southwest side of Hawai’i Island, reported Big Island Now. The facility will be used to monitor short radio bursts from deep space, which have puzzled astronomers for decades.

In an early April meeting, the local Windward Planning Commission approved a special use permit so that work on the facility can begin. The site was selected because it is a silent, secluded area that is not subject to large amounts of sound pollution or radio interference.

The land, originally designated for agricultural use, will be leased to Academia Sinica for 10 years. The facility will be mostly unmanned, with a researcher visiting the site once or twice weekly.

According to Big Island Now, the observatory will include 10 commercial TV satellite dishes, each six meters in diameter, and a 15-by-15 meter dipole antenna array. Every effort will be made to reduce electronic signals in and around the research facility so that the observatory can record even the faintest radio signals from the widest region of space.

“We’re just listening…we’re sitting there listening to some whispers from the sky,” said Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂), the deputy director of ASIAA operations in Hawai’i, as quoted by Big Island Now.