NASA releases first look at LISA telescope that will help solve mysteries of the universe, gravity, black holes: Explained peppermint

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Tuesday released the first look at the prototypes of six telescopes that will help LISA’s three spacecraft detect gravitational waves in space. The prototype is called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope.

LISA to unravel mysteries of universe and gravity

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with NASA, aims to detect and study gravitational waves in space.

LISA will be “the first gravitational wave detector in space” and will “explore the fundamental nature of gravity and black holes”. It will also investigate the rate of expansion of the universe. It is planned to launch around 2035.

Gravitational waves are generated by many different types of events in the universe – “from the interactions of compact stars to the mergers of supermassive black holes in the cores of galaxies”.

According to the European Space Agency, “LISA will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to studying gravitational waves: ripples in the fabric of space-time emitted during the most powerful events in the universe, such as pairs of black holes coming together.” and merger.”

“LISA will be the first mission to probe the history of the universe using these waves,” ESA said. The mission will study the nature of gravity by searching for waves generated by some of the most massive and extreme events in the universe.

Watch: Simulating the merger of two black holes and gravitational radiation

How will LISA detect ripples in spacetime? Role of 3 spacecraft and 6 telescopes

The LISA mission will consist of three spacecraft. These three spacecraft will fly in a triangular formation behind the Earth as our planet orbits the Sun.

The spacecraft will be placed in a heliocentric orbit about 50 million km from Earth, with a distance of about 2.5 million km between each spacecraft.

ESA explained, “LISA will detect ripples in spacetime through microscopic changes in the distance between free-floating cubes located within each spacecraft. Changes in the relative distance between these golden cubes will be measured with extreme precision using laser interferometry.” Will be tracked with.”

Meanwhile, NASA explained the role of six telescopes. All three spacecraft will have two telescopes each. The LISA mission will use lasers to detect gravitational waves.

“Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA will send all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Is supplying for. ,

About Engineering Development Unit Telescope

Engineering Development Unit The telescope was constructed and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York.

The entire telescope is made of amber-colored glass-ceramic that resists shape changes over a wide temperature range, and the mirror surface is coated with gold.

The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared laser and reduce heat loss from the surface exposed to cold as the telescope will operate best when it is closer to room temperature.

“The prototype is made entirely of amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. This material is widely used for telescopic mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because Its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures,” NASA explained.

Why study gravitational waves?

According to NASA, there are many astronomical phenomena that are either very faint or completely invisible in any form of light, which astronomy has relied on for 400 years.

“Gravitational waves are a powerful new probe of the universe that uses gravity instead of light to measure dynamic astronomical phenomena,” the US space agency said.

It further states that studying gravitational waves offers enormous potential for discovering parts of the universe that are invisible by other means, such as black holes, the Big Bang, and other, as-yet-unknown objects.

NASA said, “LISA will complement our knowledge of the beginning, evolution, and structure of our universe.”