Further studies

The versatile telescope will undertake many more intriguing studies, such as drawing a galactic dust map of the Milky Way, observing how supermassive black holes are gobbling up surrounding materials, exploring exoplanets and discovering unusual new celestial bodies.

"The orbital period of Uranus is more than 80 years. Hubble has made observations for many years. The CSST could continue the work to examine how Uranus moves in one complete period," Li said.

"The telescope can bring China's research in optical astronomy to the forefront of the world and help cultivate world-class Chinese scientists. It can also take breathtaking visible pictures, allowing the public to directly feel and understand the universe."