The agency wants to hunt exoplanets, so it’s designing star shades and coronagraphs that block out starlight and give telescopes a clear view.
. Of the two, the LUVOIR project’s proposal is closest to the design specs required by the Astro2020 survey, in that it was designed with a coronagraph alone and a large 8-meter telescope. “It’s true that if you could make a star shade work with LUVOIR, you could probably get better quality spectra of the planets,” says Roberge, a study scientist for the LUVOIR proposal. “But we judged that the coronagraph was absolutely necessary, and we got good enough spectra with that alone.
Yet a star shade, which must fly separately from the telescope, poses some challenges that a coronagraph doesn’t. The need for a separate power source would limit the uses of the craft to around 100 observations or so before it would need to be scrapped or refueled. It would also require the two crafts to engage in a delicate, coordinated flight.
And then, of course, there is the matter of it unfurling like origami. Arya and others have been working on that task, crafting several large-scale test star shades made from blanket-like Kapton polymer sheets and an unfolding carbon fiber frame. It’s not easy. The edge of a star shade’s petals must be extremely sharp to reflect as little sunlight as possible into the telescope, and any perturbations could affect exoplanet imaging.
Star shades may also be useful for more than deep space missions. NASA has given Mather’s team funding to study using an orbiting star shade to spot exoplanets from Earth., or Orbiting Configurable Artificial Star, would be the first hybrid ground-space observatory, using a laser beacon in space to help focus a terrestrial telescope, therefore cutting out the distortion caused by looking through the atmosphere.
A decision on which of these projects will go forward is still many years out. Direction for HabEx and LUVOIR might come during a NASA Town Hall at the American Astronomical Society meeting on January 11, and the ORCAS and RemoteOcculter mission proposals are still being studied. But the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in December, will soon be beaming back images made with the help of its lower-contrast star shade.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Where Is Webb? Follow the World’s Most Powerful Space Telescope✉️ Are you subscribed to our NASA Explore newsletter? This week, we share resources on how to follow the complex sequence of deployments for NASAWebb, and a toolkit for educators to bring the mission into the classroom: Sign up:
Consulte Mais informação »
NASA Scientists Confirm Earth Dating The MoonWASHINGTON—Following years of speculation by the world’s foremost astronomers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed Monday that the Earth is dating the Moon. “The two have been seen together regularly for the past 4.5 billion years, and we have now learned that Earth and its Moon are indeed in a…
Consulte Mais informação »
NASA delays tightening James Webb Space Telescope sunshield to study power systemNASA personnel are spending the day studying the power subsystem of the massive James Webb Space Telescope to ensure the spacecraft is ready to execute a key procedure.
Consulte Mais informação »
Toxic gas released by ancient microbes may have worsened Earth's largest mass extinctionHydrogen sulfide is both stinky and incredibly dangerous.
Consulte Mais informação »
15-Minute Workouts for When You Need a Quick Sweat Sesh | Well+GoodBookmark this list of 15-minute workouts for the next time you need a fast, but effective exercise routine to bust out when you’re short on time.
Consulte Mais informação »