2023-10-08 19:21:53
Is modern astronomy regarding to take a significant step forward by opening a window onto the most enigmatic period of the Universe, that of the Dark Ages? “Yes” want to believe NASA and the scientists of the LuSEE-Night mission. This technology demonstration mission for a lunar radio telescope includes a scientific component to test two pairs of antennas designed to capture frequencies believed to have been emitted during this period of the Dark Ages.
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As Jean Schneider, researcher at the Paris Observatory, explains to us, to advance in “the major questions of astronomy, such as life on certain exoplanets or dark matter, it will ultimately be necessary to have a high angular resolution, a mirror large surface area and access to the entire optical spectrum. If the future giant observatories being built on Earth “will allow many scientific advances”, the Moon, with its unique conditions, is also an ideal place to install an observatory because it will be possible to “carry out observations that are not feasible from Earth” . The absence of atmosphere around the Moon “allows access to the entire spectral band” and its low gravity “will facilitate the installation of very large instruments and will affect their longevity through the possibility of repairing and improving them on site », would like to point out Jean Schneider.
If, as part of the ESA’s “Travel 2050” call for ideas, Jean Schneider is campaigning for “the installation of a giant telescope on the far side of the Moon, operating in the visible and infrared” , NASA has chosen to direct its efforts into the development of technologies useful for installing a radio telescope.
Astronomer Jean Schneider details the project for a giant telescope on the Moon
A pioneering mission and project
Before considering the installation of an observatory on the Moon, several preliminary missions will be essential to validate several technologies that will be necessary for its operation. Unsurprisingly, the Americans are the most advanced in this area and among the projects under study is the LuSEE-Night mission. Funded by NASA and the Department of Energy, this unique mission to the Moon aims to test several technologies that might be used for a lunar radio telescope. Concretely, it will test two pairs of radio antennas and batteries to see if they can operate effectively in the freezing conditions of the lunar night where the temperature can reach -170 degrees Celsius.
Two pairs of antennas to revolutionize modern astronomy
This mission is not just a technology demonstrator. It is also of great scientific interest because these pairs of antennas, 6 meters long once deployed, should make it possible to detect radio waves from the Dark Ages. At least this is the bet of the scientific team of the antennas of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
As Kaja Rotermund, a postdoctoral researcher at Berkeley Lab who works on the antennas, explains, this mission must show whether “we can make these kinds of observations from a place we’ve never been, and also to a range of frequencies that we have never been able to observe.” The whole point of this experiment is to see if LuSEE-Night will be able to “capture frequencies between 0.5 and 50 megaHertz” which are those in which we expect this period to radiate.
“We can make these kinds of observations from a place we’ve never been, and also for a range of frequencies we’ve never been able to observe.”
On Earth, the atmosphere and terrestrial radio interference make it impossible to receive these frequencies, which is obviously not the case on the far side of the Moon, which blocks radio waves emitted from Earth, hence the choice of this particular place. That said, the scientific team of the project, aware that LuSEE-Night “is above all a technological mission”, underlines “that a telescope larger and more sensitive than the LuSEE-Night antennas might be necessary to detect information from Dark Ages.”
See the 400 million years in the history of the Universe that we have never seen
The Dark Ages are a period in the history of the Universe beginning only regarding 13.4 billion years ago, very shortly following the Big Bang (around 300,000 years) began following the spread of radiation cosmic, when it appears hot and opaque. They end with the emergence of the first luminous objects when the first stars and galaxies form. Little is known regarding this period. Everything that happened before is forever hidden by this completely opaque “wall”.
This mission will launch in 2025 aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost commercial lander. It is expected to operate for at least 18 months, which will make it possible to verify the proper functioning of the batteries during lunar nights which, remember, last approximately two weeks. To relay this data and communicate with Earth, LuSEE-Night will have to use a relay satellite.
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