A telescope with a rectangular mirror could be better at searching for life
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A telescope with a rectangular mirror could be better at searching for life
Telescope with a rectangular mirror could be used to search for liquid water in space. It is expected to be able to find water on a planet that is 30 light years away from us. It can easily fit inside the rocket if it is 20 m long and 1 m wide. Rectangular mirrors are well known in astronomy. Two of them have even been used in space — on the Gaia telescope. It will have a rather unusual appearance, but it will be more powerful than the James Webb telescope, which has a diameter of 6.5 meters.
Telescope with a rectangular mirror. Source: phys.org
Search for liquid water
An article has been published in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, in which the authors propose new technical solutions for searching for liquid water outside the Solar System. To achieve this, they propose equipping the telescope with a rectangular mirror.
Life as we know it is impossible without liquid water, and the latter is generally easier to find in space than the former. Scientists already know that this substance is quite common overall. However, it is mainly found in a solid or gaseous state.
It is also possible to detect liquid water. It emits energy at a wavelength of 10 micrometers. This is 20 times greater than the optical range. And in order to obtain reliable evidence, waves from a much larger area need to be collected.
Challenges with telescope
To obtain evidence of the existence of liquid water on a planet that is 30 light years away from us, an infrared telescope with a mirror diameter of 20 m is required. It doesn’t seem like much, but only for ground-based instruments.
In space, even the 6.5-meter James Webb became a real challenge for engineers because it was difficult to fit it into any rocket. What to say about the possibility of launching a 20-meter “saucer” somewhere?
That is why scientists are looking for alternative methods. For example, one large device can be replaced with several smaller ones. But they must be precisely synchronized in space and maintain coordination during all maneuvers. And that is extremely difficult.
Another option is to block the light of the star around which the planet orbits. However, this requires a second device to act as an “umbrella.” And this is not the simplest solution either. Now researchers are proposing the use of a long rectangular mirror.
It can easily fit inside the rocket if it is 20 m long and 1 m wide. Rectangular mirrors are well known in astronomy. Two of them have even been used in space — on the Gaia telescope.
The telescope will have a rather unusual appearance. However, it is expected to be able to find water on a planet that is 30 light-years away from us.
According to phys.org