Super telescope proposed for discovering life on Earth-like planets

“I like to think of finding life elsewhere as greater of a revolution than the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions combined.”

We’ve come a long way since Galileo confirmed that the Earth is not the center of the universe, and we’ve come even further since the Hubble Telescope gave us proof that there are billions more galaxies out there than just our own little Milky Way. Now, for the first time, scientists have proposed the technology capable of revealing the answer to the most sought after question of all time: Are we alone in the universe?

On July 6, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) presented a report for the creation of the High Definition Space Telescope (HDST).

The AURA report detailed the High Definition Space Telescope’s potential technological advancements as compared to its predecessors. The Hubble Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope mirrors were much smaller than that of what the HDSP could have.

This powerful telescope, still in its conceptual stages, would be placed more than 1 million miles from Earth and would be able to find and directly image Earth-like exoplanets in high definition to determine if they host life.

“I like to think of finding life elsewhere as greater of a revolution than the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions combined,” Mario Livio, astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute said. “We have the potential to show that either life is indeed found in other places or that perhaps, life is extraordinarily rare and even more precious than we think it is. Both of these findings have incredible implications.”

This high-definition telescope would essentially refine work already completed by NASA’s Kepler mission. Launched in 2009, Kepler was a space observatory designed to find Earth-like planets within the Milky Way Galaxy that orbited other stars. Since then, almost 2,000 exoplanets have been found in the universe, most of which cannot be seen clearly.

This is where the HDST comes in.

The telescope would be able to locate Earth-like exoplanets that orbit within the habitable zones of hundreds of stars, and dim down the intense light these stars omit. In doing so, the much dimmer light of the exoplanets themselves would become visible so that scientists back home could get a good look at the planet’s atmospheres.

When analyzing the atmospheric conditions, scientists could discover whether or not these exoplanets show signs of life. If life is to be found on the surface, theoretically, the atmospheric conditions should be altered in a way that reflects this. Just as how the Earth’s atmosphere is rich with oxygen and methane, which indicates thrive is thriving at the surface and constantly replenishing these gases.

How it works

Finding these exoplanets in the first place is no easy task. These planets may be as much as 10 billion times fainter than their host star, according to AURA’s website. To put this into perspective, imagine trying to spot the earth from lightyears away as it orbits the blinding Sun. This is why the telescope would contain an almost 40-foot-wide mirror to suppress the starlight and enhance image quality.

This 12-meter mirror with heightened UV-sensitivity will be five-times the width of the Hubble telescope’s (now celebrating its 25th anniversary), and almost twice the width of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), resulting in much sharper and detailed images.

The JWST is the next concrete step in space exploration preceding the HDST, as it is being readied for launch in 2018, roughly around the time the Hubble is set to expire.

However, the actual technology needed for such starlight suppression is not yet created, and optimistically speaking, the earliest the HDST may be ready would be in the mid-2030s. Primarily, the AURA report was intended to address technologies needing to be further developed in order to bring such a high-powered telescope to life, according to Marc Postman, coauthor of the HDST report and astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

“The HDST will be more than a hundred times more sensitive than the Hubble in terms of seeing faint things,” Postman said. “It will have the best image quality of any spacecraft ever flown, so it will produce remarkable images of not just exoplanets but also of planets in our own solar system or very distant components of faraway galaxies.”

Just like the Hubble, the HDST will not just have one mission, but many. The hope is that the HDST will be able to survey about 50 Earth-like worlds in hopes of finding signs of life. And if it does, it has the potential to change our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos for good.

from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1UVASXL

“I like to think of finding life elsewhere as greater of a revolution than the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions combined.”

We’ve come a long way since Galileo confirmed that the Earth is not the center of the universe, and we’ve come even further since the Hubble Telescope gave us proof that there are billions more galaxies out there than just our own little Milky Way. Now, for the first time, scientists have proposed the technology capable of revealing the answer to the most sought after question of all time: Are we alone in the universe?

On July 6, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) presented a report for the creation of the High Definition Space Telescope (HDST).

The AURA report detailed the High Definition Space Telescope’s potential technological advancements as compared to its predecessors. The Hubble Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope mirrors were much smaller than that of what the HDSP could have.

This powerful telescope, still in its conceptual stages, would be placed more than 1 million miles from Earth and would be able to find and directly image Earth-like exoplanets in high definition to determine if they host life.

“I like to think of finding life elsewhere as greater of a revolution than the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions combined,” Mario Livio, astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute said. “We have the potential to show that either life is indeed found in other places or that perhaps, life is extraordinarily rare and even more precious than we think it is. Both of these findings have incredible implications.”

This high-definition telescope would essentially refine work already completed by NASA’s Kepler mission. Launched in 2009, Kepler was a space observatory designed to find Earth-like planets within the Milky Way Galaxy that orbited other stars. Since then, almost 2,000 exoplanets have been found in the universe, most of which cannot be seen clearly.

This is where the HDST comes in.

The telescope would be able to locate Earth-like exoplanets that orbit within the habitable zones of hundreds of stars, and dim down the intense light these stars omit. In doing so, the much dimmer light of the exoplanets themselves would become visible so that scientists back home could get a good look at the planet’s atmospheres.

When analyzing the atmospheric conditions, scientists could discover whether or not these exoplanets show signs of life. If life is to be found on the surface, theoretically, the atmospheric conditions should be altered in a way that reflects this. Just as how the Earth’s atmosphere is rich with oxygen and methane, which indicates thrive is thriving at the surface and constantly replenishing these gases.

How it works

Finding these exoplanets in the first place is no easy task. These planets may be as much as 10 billion times fainter than their host star, according to AURA’s website. To put this into perspective, imagine trying to spot the earth from lightyears away as it orbits the blinding Sun. This is why the telescope would contain an almost 40-foot-wide mirror to suppress the starlight and enhance image quality.

This 12-meter mirror with heightened UV-sensitivity will be five-times the width of the Hubble telescope’s (now celebrating its 25th anniversary), and almost twice the width of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), resulting in much sharper and detailed images.

The JWST is the next concrete step in space exploration preceding the HDST, as it is being readied for launch in 2018, roughly around the time the Hubble is set to expire.

However, the actual technology needed for such starlight suppression is not yet created, and optimistically speaking, the earliest the HDST may be ready would be in the mid-2030s. Primarily, the AURA report was intended to address technologies needing to be further developed in order to bring such a high-powered telescope to life, according to Marc Postman, coauthor of the HDST report and astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

“The HDST will be more than a hundred times more sensitive than the Hubble in terms of seeing faint things,” Postman said. “It will have the best image quality of any spacecraft ever flown, so it will produce remarkable images of not just exoplanets but also of planets in our own solar system or very distant components of faraway galaxies.”

Just like the Hubble, the HDST will not just have one mission, but many. The hope is that the HDST will be able to survey about 50 Earth-like worlds in hopes of finding signs of life. And if it does, it has the potential to change our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos for good.

from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1UVASXL