by The ultraviolet universe is invisible from Earth’s surface, and most of what we see comes from a single orbiting observatory that may retire in just a few years.
He Hubble space telescope remains in good health and may last into the 2030s, but is slowly creeping back toward earth atmosphere. No spacecraft has been able to visit Hubble since 2009, two years before NASA withdrew its space shuttle fleet. There are initial plans for renew Hubble again, possibly using a SpaceX Dragon vehicle. But in the meantime, Hubble’s eventual retirement could leave a big gap.
Hubble’s sharp eyes include ultraviolet vision. Earth’s atmosphere blocks most ultraviolet light, so a space telescope is needed to really see the young, hot stars that astronomers want to observe through those wavelengths, or growing ones. black holesor explosions in the deep space. (There are now other ultraviolet telescopes on spacecraft, but they tend to be on limited missions that don’t span the scope of the universe like Hubble does.)
So now is the time, says a team of 100 astronomers, to fund a new telescope that will fly in 2029 with ultraviolet capabilities on board. The design is ready. International and industrial partners are aligned. But what is needed is a commitment from the Canadian government to fund the next stages of the CASTOR telescope, which the Canadian government considered the top priority. astronomy community in your latest planning reportissued in December 2020.
“Hubble is almost 30 years old. It’s been an incredible workhorse, but it won’t last forever,” said Sarah Gallagher, senior member of the CASTOR team, president of the Canadian Astronomical Society (CACSA) and an astrophysicist at Western University. Ont.
“We’re really in a beautiful position,” Gallagher told Space.com, “based on all the work we’ve done and choosing to tailor the requirements to really fit this niche. That’s really exciting, scientifically.” “
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CASTOR stands for Advanced Cosmological Survey Telescope for Optical and Ultraviolet Research. The planned 1-meter-wide observatory is part of a new generation of telescopes that pack many features into a small package. It would only cost something like $350 million ($480 million Canadian), roughly equivalent to the average annual cost of Hubble, without the five space shuttle servicing missions. (The Hubble mission has cost a total of about $16 billion in constant dollars since development began in 1977, according to NASA figures updated last month.)
Canadian astronomers would like to direct the telescope into Earth orbit, scheduled to fly at about 500 miles (800 kilometers) high, twice the altitude of the International Space Station (ISS). Canada would contribute approximately 60% of the cost ($300 million Canadian), with the remainder coming from international partners. Large Canadian companies or subsidiaries such as Honeywell, ABB and Magellan are ready to start work when asked. The United Kingdom Space Agency, NASA Jet propulsion laboratory and the space authorities of France, Spain and Israel want to contribute, with possibilities of launch platforms in India or South Korea.
But the funding decision is currently before Canada’s Parliament, which is formulating the country’s 2024 budget to be released in the spring. An August pre-budget presentation from the CASTOR team argues that the mission would “solidify Canada’s global leadership in astronomy” and allow the nation to finally lead an international astronomical project for the first time, after decades of research and contributions to others. important. efforts. It is also a large research team: in that country alone, representatives from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the National Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Astronomical Society and many universities are on board.
Canada, by the way, is known for making smart space bets with limited taxes in a country that’s home to just 40 million people. The Canadarm series of robotic arms has purchased seats for astronauts in the country since 1984; In 2023 alone, that commitment brought a promise to send CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen to the moon on NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, along with funding for CSA backup astronaut Jenni Gibbons. Fellow CSA astronaut Josh Kutryk will also fly to the International Space Station in 2025.
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This year also saw a flurry of other space announcements. There are promises to update Canada’s launch rules to support commercial rocket efforts. Canada also gave a funded commitment expand and renew the old Radarsat Land series of crucial observations for military and climate change observations. He even promised a new “lunar utility vehicle” to support artemis program lunar astronauts, while continuing to fund a mini-rover that would launch in 2026. (The rover’s science team is led by Professor Gordon Osinski of Western University, who teaches geology to NASA and CSA astronauts on a regular basis, with some space flyers come with him on expeditions to remote places here on Earth).
While CASTOR has a smaller mirror than Hubble, the detector will observe much wider swaths of the sky in both optical and ultraviolet light. Viewing much of the sky at once in ultraviolet, for example, will allow astronomers to focus on parts of it. the universe That changes quickly: “Often they’re very exciting things, like things exploding. We love cosmic explosions,” Gallagher said. Quickly detecting such explosions could allow powerful ground-based instruments like the Gravitational Wave Finder. LIGO to follow up on findings.
Additionally, studying large-scale ultraviolet wavelengths makes CASTOR complementary to two other wide-field missions astronomers are working on. He European Space Agency‘s Euclid The telescope was launched into deep space in July and already provides images in optical and near-infrared light. And, in 2027, POTThe infrared search Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Will follow Euclid Lagrangian point 2. That’s a gravitationally stable orbit a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from us on the opposite side of Sun.
Gallagher says that if all three telescopes could work together in real time, before Euclid’s primary mission expires in 2029, that would be ideal, although CASTOR could always follow up on Euclid’s work after the fact if necessary.
“The beautiful thing about having CASTOR, plus Euclides and Roman, is that they all focus on different parts, different colors, and having all three of them together makes them better, because you get a lot more information,” he said. . The ultraviolet view would provide additional information about galaxy populations (old versus young). stars), or the sources of quasars which are powered by black holes.
“What interests me, in particular, are these objects that change over time,” Gallagher continued. “So if you go back and check them over and over again to see them get a little bit brighter… you can see how that changes based on color. And that can tell you about the whole structure of the system that powers the black hole“.
Phase 0, analysis and identification phase of the telescope mission, It was completed in July., and the CASTOR team has been busy gathering support for their budget presentation. Numerous members of Parliament have been consulted. Letters of support came in from 13 vice-presidents of research at different universities, along with the Canadian Association of Physicists. Gallagher herself met with representatives from across Canada at the annual Space Borne conference this fall, which brings together much of the scientific, government and industry communities, to continue discussions about funding.
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“This is a project that has been well researched. Much of the technological risk has been eliminated. The scientific case is very exciting. That’s why we’ve been able to bring these partners on board,” Gallagher said. But he acknowledged that getting funding for it is not guaranteed.
“Honestly, everyone we talk to is very excited about this. But it’s a tough budget cycle and we realize there are a lot of important priorities as well. But I think this is really the kind of thing where Canada can be a leader. “An exciting and world-class mission. “The potential to train and inspire the next generation in all different fields is really fantastic.”
