Scientific Goals
The telescope is to conduct a wide-field survey, called the "LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Evolution," or LEGUE. Particular scientific goals of the LAMOST include:
- An extra-galactic spectroscopic survey to shed light on the large scale structure of the universe
- A stellar spectroscopic survey, including a search for metal-poor stars in the galactic halo, to provide information on the structure of our Galaxy
- Cross-identification of multi-waveband surveys
It is also hoped that the vast volume of data produced will lead to additional serendipitous discoveries. Early commissioning observations have been able to confirm spectroscopically a new method of identifying quasars based on their infrared color. An overarching goal of the telescope is to bring Chinese astronomy into the 21st century, taking a leading role in wide-field spectroscopy and in the fields of large-scale and large-sample astronomy and astrophysics.
Read more about this topic: LAMOST
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