NASA's Hubble Telescope To Be Challenged By China's Xuntian Telescope In 2023
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NASA's Hubble, however, was launched 30 years ago and runs on the technology of the past, whereas the Chinese observatory will use modern technology.
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China is hoping to launch its own space observatory by 2023 to make fresh cosmic discoveries, after challenging the West on the space station front
The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), or Xuntian, which means'survey of the skies,' is said to compete with NASA's Hubble telescope, and may even outrun it in some areas
The Xuntian telescope, according to Liu Jifeng, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC), is the size of a three-story skyscraper.
According to CGTN, he stated that the telescope has a two-meter-wide aperture, which is slightly less than Hubble's (2.4m) but has a field of view 350 times wider
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whereas the Chinese observatory will employ new technology and hence produce better results.
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China compares Xuntian with Hubble
Jifeng revealed more information regarding the Chinese space telescope, saying that because Hubble has a limited field of view, it has only scanned a small portion of the sky
A field of view is the area of the sky that a telescope can see at any given time. According to the Chinese official
Hubble's field of view is only 1% the size of a fingernail held at arm's length, whereas the Xuntian telescope will cover a slightly greater area and produce better photos.