Nanshan Station, Xinjiang Observatory

Nanshan Station, part of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, is a major radio and optical astronomy site in the mountains near Urumqi, in northwestern China.

About Nanshan Station, Xinjiang Observatory

Nanshan Station sits in Xiaofengliang, in Gangou Township of Urumqi County, at an elevation of about 2,080 metres. Operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the site covers roughly 312 acres and includes more than 11,000 square metres of buildings, with a staff of over 100, including 87 scientific and technical personnel.

History

Construction of the station began in 1991, and it has since grown into one of China's key astronomical and geodetic facilities, also serving as an international collaboration platform.

Telescopes & research

The station's instruments include a 26-metre radio telescope used for VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) observations, a 1-metre wide-field optical telescope, and a 1.2-metre quantum communication telescope. Research carried out here spans radio and optical astronomy, pulsars, star formation and evolution, galaxies, cosmology and high-energy astrophysics. The 26-metre dish also serves as a VLBI tracking station supporting China's lunar exploration missions.

Location & getting there

Nanshan Station is located in the mountains of Xiaofengliang, in Gangou Township, Urumqi County, in China's Xinjiang region, at around 2,080 metres elevation.

Visiting Nanshan Station, Xinjiang Observatory

As an active research station operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, access is generally arranged for scientific and educational purposes rather than casual tourism; anyone interested in visiting should contact the observatory or check official Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory channels in advance.

See your named star from here

With instruments spanning radio and optical astronomy, Nanshan Station represents the kind of serious research site that works with precise sky coordinates every day, just like those you receive when naming a star with star-register. Explore our star-naming packages or browse the star catalogue.