China's spectral survey telescope collects over 14 mln spectra

This combo photo shows a data comparison that China's spectral survey telescope has collected in the first year (below) and in the past seven years (above). (Photo provided by National Astronomical Observatories Of China)

(ECNS) -- China's spectral survey telescope, also the world's largest spectral survey apparatus, has collected 14.48 million spectra, released to the world by end March.

The LAMOST-DR7 data collected by Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in the past seven years was processed and analyzed for 9 months by Chinese scientists.

It consists of 10.6 million pieces of conventional low resolution spectral data and 3.88 million pieces of medium resolution information.

At present, 937 users from 141 institutes and universities across the world are using LAMOST data to conduct research.

Located in north China's Hebei Province, LAMOST began regular surveys in 2012, and can observe about 4,000 celestial bodies at one time.

It created 11 achievements, including the "discovery of a king-size stellar-mass black hole," in 2019.