International Astronomers Use FAST and MeerKAT Telescopes for Groundbreaking Galactic Research

An aerial photograph captured on February 18, 2025, showcases China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) during a maintenance phase in Guizhou Province. Over the years, Guizhou has been using FAST and its scientific resources to encourage educational travel, appealing to those curious about scientific exploration and learning opportunities.

Recently, a group formed by astronomers from Tsinghua University in China, in collaboration with researchers from Italy, Australia, Germany, and other nations, carried out precise observations of Galactic globular clusters using both the FAST and the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa. Their research produced the most extensive measurements of magnetic field gradients and ionized gas limits in globular clusters, contributing to a better understanding of the Milky Way's magnetic structure and offering fresh perspectives on the evolution of these clusters and Galactic magnetism, according to a report by CCTV.

Globular clusters are among the oldest celestial formations within the Milky Way, consisting of millions of stars, including pulsating neutron stars. These pulsars send out timed electromagnetic pulses that can traverse great distances in space, providing critical information about interstellar matter and magnetic fields. FAST’s impressive 500-meter dish is particularly adept at picking up faint cosmic signals from pulsars situated millions of light-years away, while the 64-antenna MeerKAT array excels at monitoring signals from broader sky regions, detecting small polarization variations caused by ionized gases.

This collaboration between FAST and MeerKAT marks a significant advancement in globular cluster research, enhancing observational capabilities beyond previous limits. The team successfully gathered polarization rotation data from 43 pulsars across eight global clusters, surprising researchers by finding that seven of these clusters displayed no detectable ionized gas—indicating unexpectedly "clean" environments. This contradicts existing theoretical models that predicted significant amounts of intracluster gas, suggesting that globular clusters might possess efficient mechanisms for gas clearance, possibly driven by powerful radiation winds from young stars and white dwarfs.

Dr. Zhang Lei, the lead researcher analyzing the data, noted that their expectations of globular clusters being rich in gas were surpassed by their findings of a dust-free state, which compels a reevaluation of theories surrounding cluster evolution. CCTV reported that FAST and MeerKAT will maintain their partnership to monitor pulsar behavior, investigate interstellar turbulence, and continue the search for extraterrestrial signals.