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Astronomers are often interested in very, very large telescopes, giant galaxies, and massive exploding stars. But one of the most revolutionary astronomy tools of the last decade is
Astronomers are often interested in very, very large telescopes, giant galaxies, and massive exploding stars. But one of the most revolutionary astronomy tools of the last decade is a mini satellite the size of a breadbox.
The satellite will act as an artificial star that astronomers can observe from Earth, allowing them to more accurately measure the brightness of a space object and better understand some of our universe’s greatest mysteries, such as dark energy. NASA recently approved $19.5 million to launch a mini-satellite into Earth orbit.
“This is truly amazing science supported by NASA,” Tyler Ritchie-Yowell, a postdoctoral researcher at Lowell Observatory who studies stellar astronomy and exoplanets, told Business Insider. “This is something that will help all astronomers.”
The mini-satellite, called CubeSat, is designed to orbit around the Earth at a distance of 22,236 miles. At this distance its speed will equal the Earth’s rotation, so the satellite will appear stationary in the night sky, making it an easy target for tracking telescopes. You won’t be able to see it with the naked eye. However, it will look like a star in telescopes. The launch of the mission is planned for 2029. This will be the first vehicle of its kind.
“It’s really new for us to have some sort of artificial quote from a star that we can rely on,” Ritchie-Ewell told BI.
What makes this “artificial star” better than the real thing is that astronomers will know exactly how much light it emits.
The CubeSat, named Landolt after the late astronomer Arlo Landolt, will fire lasers containing a specific number of light particles, or photons, that astronomers can use to calibrate their telescopes to measure light.
This could help eliminate much of the guesswork that astronomers now make when using real stars to calibrate their instruments.
The problem is that it’s impossible to know exactly how much light real stars are emitting because we can’t send a probe to accurately measure their brightness, Ritchie-Ewell said. Additionally, Earth’s atmosphere absorbs a lot of light from space, which can affect astronomers’ calibration.
“That’s why this Landolt mission is so important,” Ritchie-Ewell said. “If we send a mission like this where we know exactly how many photons and how much light per second are coming from this CubeSat, we can use that to compare and more accurately measure light from other objects (like a real star).” , said.
The mission is expected to help astronomers measure the light emitted by stars 10 times more accurately than current estimates, Live Science reported. It’s like being given a 1000-piece puzzle with only half the pieces, and then someone gives you a few hundred more pieces. Landolt will help astronomers capture even minute details that might not otherwise be found in the data.
“All of our astronomy relies on light, so we really need to know how much light we’re actually getting,” Ritchie-Ewell said.
You can learn a lot about the light beam: the star’s temperature, its mass, the types of exoplanets orbiting it, and whether they could potentially host life.
For example, knowing how hot the host star is can tell how far away an exoplanet would have to be to support liquid water on its surface, Ritchie-Ewell said. Water is a fundamental component of life as we know it and is one of the key features astrobiologists look for when investigating potential planets that could harbor life.
Finding more Earth-like planets is just the beginning. Astronomers can also use Landolt to measure light from distant exploding stars, called supernovae; This helps calculate the expansion rate of the universe.
Cosmologists currently studying the expansion of the universe face a huge problem: They cannot agree on a single value for the expansion rate. Some methods lead to a single value, while others lead to slightly different results. This puzzle may hold the key to solving some of the universe’s greatest mysteries, such as understanding the invisible force tearing our universe apart that we call dark energy.
“So everything from tiny planets to the full scale of the universe depends on our understanding of stars, how bright they are, and what kind of light they emit,” Ritchie-Ewell said. said. “I really think this will be revolutionary for astronomy.”
Source: Port Altele
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