Our ability to do research is a function of how good our instruments are and how good our problem-solving and creativity are. We can’t really do anything to help the next Albert Einstein or Marie Curie make their way into research, but we can at least make sure there are amazing instruments available for the best scientists in the world to use. As basic research, including astronomy research, plays more and more of a role in Asian and Southeast Asian research institutes, new sites are being built outside the traditional locations in Chile, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, and the American Southwest. 

In a new issue of the journal Nature, researchers from a collaboration of Chinese institutes identify the summit of Saishiteng Mountain in the Tibetan Plateau as a potential future site for massive telescopes. Tests indicate the weather is good 70% of the nights, and there is little air turbulence, dust, or light pollution to ruin images in other ways. Current rumors hint at plans to build a thirty-meter telescope, making their potential scope potentially the largest in the world.

More Information

Site on Tibetan Plateau shows promise as a place for next-generation large telescope (Phys.org)

“Lenghu on the Tibetan Plateau as an astronomical observing site,” Licai Deng et al., 2021 August 18, Nature