China is building a telescope that will compete with the James Webb

Representatives from Peking University shared plans to build a segmented telescope with

expanding aperture.The project, in English, is called Expanding Aperture Segmented Telescope (EAST) and will “improve China's optical astronomy observation capabilities,” according to the statement. The new telescope's six-meter aperture will be built by 2024, and the mirror will be increased to 8 meters by 2030.

If everything goes according to plan, the object will becomethe first world-class optical telescope in the Eastern Hemisphere, which will compete with similar facilities in the Western Hemisphere.

EAST will be built on Mount Saishiten nearbyfrom the city of Lenghu in the Qinghai province on the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of about 4200 m. The telescope will have 18 hexagonal mirror segments, like NASA's James Webb. The diameter of the mirror will be about 6 meters.

At the second stage of the project arounda ring of another 18 hexagonal segments will be added to the telescope and by 2030 its diameter will increase to 8 meters. It is expected that the cost of the project will be from 500 to 600 million yuan ($69-84 million).

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Cover: EAST telescope concept, Peking University